Down in New Orleans
by Sabby1
Summary: An alternate version of events picking up where 4x20 'The Originals' left off. Inspired by the simple facts that vampires cannot have babies and that Katherine is a manipulative B.
1. Chapter 1

So after last Thursday's backdoor pilot for 'The Originals' I decided to go into deNile. And when I go there, I don't just dip a toe in. I take a running start for a flying leap to dive-bomb into the deep waters.

None of them are mine. No fowl, no harm.

!

**"Caroline. I'm standing in one of my favorite places in the world. Surrounded by food, music, art, culture; and all I can think about is how much I want to show it to you. Maybe one day you'll let me."**

Caroline blinks rapidly as she listens to the message during lunch break, wondering what the hell has gotten into Klaus.

She can't believe he just up and left for some place unknown. The music in the background of his voice makes her think it's still somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon, but it's not like she cares all that much.

"Suit yourself," she says waspishly and hangs up the phone.

She has ten more minutes before Biology and really no patience left for any of this. Graduation can't get here soon enough.

Several hours later, she's finally free to get out of school and into her car. She bites her lip and thinks about her options for a second. The pressure inside her is still building and she has been holding off all day. She needs a drink and she needs to vent about this to somebody. And there is really only one place left to go.

She sucks in an unnecessary breath and turns the key in the ignition. It's time to pay the Salvatore brothers a visit.

Caroline doesn't even hesitate before she barrels through the unlocked front door into the Boarding House and down the hallway towards the main living room.

"Stefan! Damon!" She continues without waiting for an answer. "You won't believe the message I just got from Klaus. Apparently, he's decided now is the perfect time to disappear off the face of the planet and enjoy some..."

"What the hell is she doing out?" Caroline's eyes narrow angrily as she catches sight of her least favorite person at the moment.

"Hah. This never gets old." The brunette lounging casually on the sofa in front of the fireplace leans her head back towards Caroline. "I'm not the doppelganger you're looking for," Katherine Pierce says in a lazy drawl, raising her arm and twiddling her fingers in a lazy salute.

"Katherine!" Caroline growls as the veins around her eyes intensify and her fangs drop reflexively.

"Whoa, tiger." Damon appears behind her with a whoosh of displaced air, and reaches an arm around her with a glass of scotch in his hand. "How about you sheath the claws and we have a drink first?"

Caroline doesn't have to turn around to know Damon is making faces at Katherine over her shoulder. It's one of his many nasty habits. She grabs the scotch anyway. "How about you explain what the hell she's doing here?"

"It's a long story," Stefan says as he moves over from the wet bar with two more glasses in his hand.

"Actually, it isn't." Katherine shrugs and takes the glass Stefan offers her. "Klaus left, so I came back."

"Well isn't that just peachy?" Caroline knocks back her drink, but doesn't take her eyes off Katherine for even a second. "And how do you know Klaus left?"

Katherine smiles like the cat that ate the canary. "Because I was the one that sent him away."

Caroline can't believe she's hearing this, or that Damon and Stefan are so damn calm about all of it. "Have I stepped into the twilight zone?" She takes a step closer towards Katherine. "Did you compel them?"

Katherine chortles and takes a sip from her drink. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Stefan, this is insane." Caroline keeps her eyes locked on their nemesis even as she steps closer to Stefan. "She's our enemy!"

She shakes her head in disbelief. "She stole the cure. She killed Jeremy, and she's the reason that Elena is desiccating in the basement! For all we know she might be holding Bonnie hostage somewhere! "

Caroline wants to shake him so bad she can feel her fingers itch and for a moment her concentration lapses and she whips her head around to glare at Stefan. "How can you just stand there and act like there's nothing wrong with her hanging out on your couch?"

"Lost the witch, did you?" Katherine cackles gleefully.

Caroline's attention snaps back to the older vampire with a growl. "As if you don't know! What did you do to her? Where is she? What do you want from us?!"

"That's enough!"

Before she can blink, Caroline finds herself backed up against a wall with Katherine's fingers tightly curled around her throat. She scrabbles at the tight hold, but she knows she's not strong enough to pry the deadly fingers off her neck. She glares at Katherine anyway.

Katherine flexes her fingers dangerously once, but the next second she's ripped away by the force of a full body tackle at vampire speed and when they both stop blurring she is flat on her back underneath Damon's considerable weight.

"Is that any way to seduce a lady?" She asks with a teasingly arched brow and rolls her hips against him.

Damon's grip clamps around her forearms like a vice as he keeps holding her down. "I don't see any ladies around here."

Caroline has had enough. "Screw this! I'm outta here." She pushes herself off the wall and bursts out of the boarding house at vampire speed.

She has no idea where to go now. Bonnie's been missing for three days, the boarding house has become home to not only one but two doppelgangers who would love to kill her, her mom is wrapped up in the investigation of the recent massacres, Tyler's gone and Klaus decided to skip town. Who else is there that she could even think about talking to about all of this?

"Matt!" She breathes a sigh of relief when she remembers her friend and changes direction, heading for the Grill.

She steps through the door into the dimly lit bar and grill and starts looking around for Matt immediately. Her eyes widen in shock when she catches sight of him sitting with Rebekah Mikaelson in one of the booths that is tucked away from most prying eyes.

Her protective instincts kicking in, Caroline makes her way through the sparse afternoon crowd at barely human speed.

"What do you want with him?" she asks harshly as she slams one hand down on the tabletop.

Matt nearly jumps out of his skin, but Rebekah merely turns her head to glare at Caroline. "That's none of your business. And if you don't want to find yourself on the business end of a stake, I suggest you leave us alone."

"Rebekah!" Matt's tone rings with reproach.

Caroline is just as surprised as Rebekah looks to be when the original vampire girl concedes and folds her hands in her lap.

Matt continues in the same tone as he shifts his chastising look to Caroline. "She came here to warn me about something, but you interrupted us before she could say anything."

Now Caroline feels like a bitch and tucks her head in. "I'm sorry," she says automatically before she realizes what she is actually apologizing for.

She wonders if Matt knows how much unwitting authority he exudes with his calm personality.

Rebekah blinks in surprise and pauses for a moment before she leans forward. "I suppose you'd tell her anyway." She takes a deep breath and releases it slowly. "Before my brother left, he betrayed us all."

"What?" The word tumbles over Caroline's lips before she can stop it. She hates how disbelieving she sounds.

Rebekah gives her a meaningful look before she turns back to Matt.

Caroline chooses to ignore it and slides into the booth next to her friend. "What are you talking about?"

"Katherine gave Elijah the cure," Rebekah says apropos of nothing.

"Wait, what?" Caroline interjects before the original can move on from that very confusing point. "Why would she do that?"

Rebekah rolls her eyes and sighs in exasperation. "My oldest brother has been in love with Katerina Petrova since he first laid eyes on her. She's been yanking him around by that chain, but apparently recently decided to prove her 'genuine feelings' to Elijah by giving him the cure."

"Wow." Caroline falls back in her seat as she tries to absorb that tidbit of information.

"Anyway." Rebekah stresses the word as she gets the subject back on track. "Klaus and I were vying for it and I won, but then somehow Klaus tipped off Silas and he mimicked me and got the cure from Elijah."

Caroline sees Matt blanch next to her and if she was still human she would have done the same. "When was this?"

"Prom-night," Matt and Rebekah say at the same time.

"The night Bonnie disappeared." Caroline looks back and forth between the pair and wonders what else she missed that night.

Rebekah leans forward and takes a hold of Matt's hand with both of hers, looking at him imploringly. "Silas has the cure. It's no longer safe here." She looks down at the table for a moment before she raises her gaze and pins him down. "Promise you'll leave. Pack your things and get out. Please, Matt."

Matt looks back at Rebekah without flinching. "Is that what you're going to do?"

Caroline feels like she's intruding but at the same time it's almost like she's not even there. She's not sure if she should clear her throat to draw their attention or silently slip out of the booth and leave.

Rebekah clears her throat and looks away from him uncomfortably. "It doesn't matter." She purses her lips resolutely and looks back at Matt with renewed determination. "Just promise you'll leave. I need to know that you'll be safe."

Caroline has a pretty good idea how he's going to respond when Matt starts to smile that adorable half-smile that used to melt her heart a life-time ago. It's creepy to see it have the exact same effect on Rebekah.

"That's not how it works, Rebekah." He turns his hand around and folds his fingers over hers, stroking his thumb over the side of her hand. "Being human means you'll have to let other people help you."

Caroline can't take it anymore. "Alright, that's enough!"

Her outburst snaps the wanna-be lovebirds out of it. They both hastily pull their hands away and sit back to glare at her.

"So, Klaus pretty much handed Silas the cure on a silver platter and then decided to skip town for parts unknown?" Caroline huffs out a breath and blows a curl out of her face in frustration.

"New Orleans," Rebekah says blandly.

"What?" Caroline is ready to throw her hands up in surrender. "Why would Katherine send him to New Orleans of all places?"

Rebekah's interest is piqued and she raises her brows in curiosity. "What does Katherine have to do with that?"

Caroline does throw her hands up at this point. "How am I supposed to know?"

Klaus has really done it this time. He's left her and his sister a deadly mess. How could he just up and leave after handing the cure to their most dangerous enemy yet, leaving the door wide open for a previous enemy to return to Mystic Falls?

And how is she supposed to deal with it all? Bonnie is gone, Silas has the cure, Elena is an emotionless wreck, Katherine's back in town, Damon and Stefan are useless, Jeremy's dead, Matt has the hots for Rebekah, Rebekah wants to be human for Matt and Caroline is somehow in the middle of it all with no one to turn to.

She sucks in a deep breath and exhales it very slowly. "But you know what? I'm going to find out."

She lays both her hands flat on the table to keep herself from smashing it into a million pieces. "And then I am going to drag Klaus's sorry ass back home and make him help us clean up the mess he made."

She wipes the subject matter off the table and gets up. "And you two are going to help me."

"And just why should-" Rebekah stops abruptly when Matt lays his hand on hers and squeezes gently.

"Okay," Matt says slowly, looking at Rebekah before he turns his head to look up at Caroline. "We'll help you."

Caroline nods in satisfaction. "Go and pack some things. I'll meet you at the mansion."

Since she's the first to arrive at the Mikaelson Mansion, Caroline uses the opportunity to snoop around. She has absolutely no qualms about going through Klaus's things. There are a few new sketches and some interesting abstract paintings. There is one that looks like the close-up of a naked shoulder with a crescent moon on it.

"Really?" Caroline rolls her eyes at the overly dramatic scene of a lonely figure in front of a fading sky standing near a bare tree. "Get over yourself, drama-llama." She giggles as she imagines Klaus's expression if she said that to his face.

Leaving the sketches behind she starts to go through his desk. There is relatively little of interest, until she comes across a letter in an open envelope. She pulls out the single sheet of paper and starts to read. Her eyebrows twitch in interest as she realizes who the sender is.

_Klaus, _

_I hear Elijah has refused you the cure and in return you have refused me my freedom. Shame on you both. But while you boys sort out your problems, I have one last thing to offer you. I've caught wind that there is a witch in New Orleans named Jane-Anne Deveraux plotting a move against you. Hunt her down. What she has to say will rattle you so deeply to your core that chasing little old me will be the least of your concerns. It's been a fun five centuries, Klaus, but I've worn down too many good heels running from you. _

_Love and hate, _

_Katerina. _

Caroline picks up her cell-phone and dials Klaus's number. She doesn't think too deeply about the fact that she knows it by heart. She is not too surprised when she gets his voice-mail.

"Klaus, I'm coming to New Orleans." She hangs up the phone.


	2. Chapter 2

**"Somebody has to be in charge." - "Yeah, me."**

Caroline shifts uncomfortably in her seat. She's been stuck in the backseat of Rebekah's Porsche Cayenne for the past nine hours. Why they didn't fly to New Orleans is beyond her.

She knows that it's immature, and she knows they still have an hour drive ahead of them, but she can't help it. "Are we there yet?"

Rebekah whips around and almost lunges at her from the passenger seat. "No, but if you ask one more time I will-"

Matt's voice is on the very edge of calm. "Rebekah, it's really hard to concentrate on my driving when you threaten Caroline. And Caroline, you know we're still an hour outside of New Orleans, so stop asking."

He's been the one driving for most of the time. Each time Caroline or Rebekah tried to take the wheel it nearly ended in bloodshed, so poor Matt had to separate them and take over.

Rebekah turns back around and throws herself into her seat, making the back of it bang against Caroline's knees. "She started it."

Matt groans and rubs his eyes. "I don't care who started it. If both of you don't stop it, I'm going to turn this car around and drive right back home."

Suddenly, he jerks and blinks in disbelief. "Wow, did I really just say that?"

Caroline curls back into her seat and pouts quietly, pulling her legs up onto the seat next to her to save them from Rebekah's repeated attempts at dislocating her kneecaps.

Rebekah huffs out an annoyed breath and turns her face away to look out the window, muttering under her breath.

Matt sighs in exasperation and looks longingly at the radio. He had to turn that off as well when the girls couldn't agree on a station. "Just let me know when I need to take the turn off the highway to get to your plantation, alright?"

The plantation is just that: a huge property of highland and swampland with a winding two lane road leading up to the main building, an enormous white two-story mansion surrounded by a luscious cultivated garden. It's even more impressive in front of the backdrop of an early sunrise.

"The last time I was out here, there was nothing but sugar cane fields as far as the eye could see," Rebekah says wistfully.

Caroline stretches slowly and rolls her head to get the kinks out of her neck. "The only thing my eyes want to see is a shower and a comfortable bed. And I'm sure Matt feels the same way." She smiles over at her friend.

Matt looks like he's dead on his feet, swaying lightly with his eyes half closed as he squints at the gigantic house in front of them. "I could really use a nap."

Rebekah sighs and rolls her eyes. "Fine, come on then. Let's give the servants a proper scare."

Caroline wakes up sometime around noon. The lavishly decorated surroundings of the unfamiliar bedroom confuse her for a second before she remembers that they're in Louisiana and that she's on a mission. She's also starving for blood.

She swings her legs out of bed and grabs for her jeans and shirt; except the armchair where she left them is empty. Her suitcase is also nowhere to be found.

Caroline's brows furrow in suspicion as she cocks her head to the side. "Rebekah."

As Caroline whirls around, her eyes roam across the room, giving the girl the benefit of the doubt for one last moment. She checks the only wardrobe and the vanity, but both of them are empty.

"Damn it." She smacks her hands down on the vanity as she plops down on the bench and glares into the mirror.

That is when she notices the bell string on the wall next to her.

Caroline takes a deep breath and looks away, hoping to see a phone or an intercom. There isn't any.

"I can't believe I have to do this," she mutters under her breath as she pulls on the bell string.

Less than two minutes later, there is a knock on her door.

"Come in," she calls out.

A pretty brunette in an old-fashioned service uniform steps into the room and curtseys before she addresses her. "You rang, Miss Caroline."

The formal greeting combined with the deep southern drawl gives Caroline the willies. "Yes, and, please, just call me Caroline."

"Yes, Miss Caroline."

Caroline's fingers twitch on top of the vanity.

She accepted that compulsion was the only option when they entered the house, unless they wanted to draw undue attention. But there is really no good reason to make the poor staff revert to antebellum personalities on top of that.

"Where are my clothes?" Caroline asks as politely as she can.

"Miss Rebekah sent to have them cleaned. If you'd like, I could bring you something to wear in the meantime?"

"Yes, please do."

The maid curtseys and leaves the room, only to come right back inside with a dress folded over one arm while holding a woven summer hat and a pair of strap-sandals in her other hand.

Caroline's eyebrows fly to her hairline as she gives the maid a questioning look.

The maid smiles benignly as she places the clothes on the bed and puts the shoes down on the floor in front of it. "Miss Rebekah took the liberty to pick this out for you in advance."

The maid steps back and folds her hands in front of her. "Will that be all, Miss Caroline?"

Caroline doesn't flinch anymore. She'll sort this out with Rebekah as soon as she's wearing more than her underwear. "Yes, thank you, that will be all."

The maid curtsies again and leaves the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Caroline groans in frustration and swings herself up from the vanity bench to put on the clothes. She hates to admit it, but the light summer dress and floppy white hat Rebekah picked out for her actually compliment her figure and match her sense of style.

A little while later, Caroline manages to find her way to the formal dining room.

Rebekah folds down the local newspaper in her lap and looks over at Caroline from the head of the monumental table. "I'm glad you finally decided to get up."

Her eyes trail over Caroline's dress and she grins wickedly. "I know it sits a bit tight on you, but you'll have to make do until the servants can get the wrinkles out of the sad specimens that you call clothes."

Caroline forces her murderous expression to turn into a sugary sweet smile. "Actually, it's a bit loose around the waist, but nothing that a safety pin can't fix."

Rebekah's grin freezes but she keeps her calm as she changes the subject. "Matt's still asleep. I think it's best if we leave him be for now."

Caroline raises a brow at Rebekah's uncharacteristic kindness. "For once, I actually agree with you." She sits down at the other end of the table and turns her head to look out of the tall windows at the garden beyond.

Caroline can feel her stomach turn with hunger. "I'm starving."

Rebekah smiles and picks up a small silver bell, ringing it a couple of times.

A handsome footman dressed in a traditional livery enters the room a moment later.

Rebekah ignores him and smiles at Caroline instead. "Help yourself. He won't complain about it."

Caroline grits her teeth, fighting the urge to succumb to her hunger and ready to lay into Rebekah as soon as the guy leaves again.

She sucks in an unnecessary breath before she addresses the servant. "Would you bring me some lemonade, please?"

"Right away, Miss Caroline." The footman bows and leaves the room.

Caroline forces herself to stay in her chair. "You know very well I meant the bagged blood. So where the hell did you put it?"

Rebekah smirks and remains silent for a moment, visibly enjoying the sight of Caroline squirming before she responds. "Wine cellar, in the basement."

Caroline moves in a blur, rushing across the hallway and down into the basement at vampire speed.

When she finds Rebekah again, the other girl has moved on to the large patio at the west side of the mansion, enjoying the afternoon sun on her face.

Caroline can't help but admire the well maintained garden and the beautiful marble fountain in its center. "I'm surprised Klaus didn't take the place when he came here."

"Shows how much you know about him." Rebekah scoffs and shakes her head. "He prefers his studio in the French Quarter when he travels alone. Closer to the multicultural hubbub and whatnot."

Caroline tries to ignore the sting of Rebekah's jab. Maybe she really doesn't know as much about Klaus as she thinks. It's better to change the subject. "And what about Elijah?"

Rebekah shrugs. "Who knows? He probably had some sort of moral compunction against overtaking the place and compelling the staff for his convenience."

Caroline makes a face. "Were any of your brothers ever normal?"

Rebekah flinches and her eyes glaze over for a moment. "One of them was. A long time ago."

The strange comment makes Caroline frown until she remembers what Elena told her about the Mikaelsons family history. Obviously, Rebekah is referring to her youngest sibling Henrik, who died from a werewolf attack and was the primary reason the originals became vampires.

If there is one thing Caroline can empathize with it's the loss of a dear family member. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up old wounds."

Rebekah snaps back to reality and looks up at Caroline with slightly narrowed eyes. "I know you didn't." She smirks and nods to herself before she turns back to look out over the garden. "You can join me if you'd like."

Caroline accepts the offer and they both sit quietly for a long time, watching the sun make its way down until it finally dips below the horizon.

Rebekah is the first one to break the silence as she gets up from her chair. "We should head out, if you want to find Klaus now is the best time to do it."

Caroline gets up as well and follows Rebekah inside. "Should we bring Matt?"

Rebekah stops abruptly and bites her lip, a deep frown on her face. "No, I think it's safer if he stays here."

Caroline cocks her head to the side and puts a hand on Rebekah's arm to turn her around. "Why, what's the problem?"

Rebekah meets Caroline's gaze with a shrug. "From what Elijah told me, things are done quite differently in the Big Easy. We won't be able to concentrate on tracking down Klaus if we're too busy protecting Matt all night."

"Oh." Caroline falls back a step and lets go of Rebekah's arm. She sighs in acceptance. "Okay."

"I'll take care of it," Rebekah says confidently and begins to walk away again.

"Are you sure?" Caroline stops her again, catching up to her in a couple of quick steps.

She knows exactly how Rebekah will take care of keeping Matt at the plantation.

"I mean, I could do it," Caroline says with a shrug and a frown.

She doesn't know exactly why she's offering Rebekah to do it for her.

"Don't worry about it." Rebekah waves her off. "Go get changed."

Caroline purses her lips, ready to protest. She thinks better of it and nods instead, turning to head up the stairs towards her room. Her fingers flex around the banister when she hears Rebekah's voice call after her.

"And wear something sexy! This isn't Mystic Falls where you can get away with last year's Target collection!"

Rebekah waits for a moment after Caroline disappears and then climbs a separate set of stairs towards Matt's room.

Matt wakes up when the mattress beside him dips under the weight of another person. He turns around and sits up groggily, rubbing his eyes to clear the sleep out of them.

Rebekah waits patiently, sitting at the side of the bed with a sad smile on her face.

Matt recognizes her but immediately looks away, searching for a clock. "What time is it?" he asks, stifling a yawn behind his hand.

"Just past six in the evening," Rebekah says in a low voice.

He finally looks directly at her, his eyes wide in surprise. "I slept that long?"

She uses the opportunity and pulls him into a compulsion. "Yes, and you will go back to sleep as soon as I leave this room. You will not wake up until tomorrow morning and you won't even think about leaving this house until you see me tomorrow."

A muscle under Matt's right eye twitches but otherwise his face is perfectly blank as he looks back at Rebekah.

"I'm sorry, Matt." Rebekah reaches out a hand and places it gently on his cheek. "It's the only way I can make sure you're safe."

A tear falls down her cheek, but she ignores it in favor of finishing her orders. "You won't remember I said that. You will follow the orders I gave you until I come back. Understood?"

"Yes, Rebekah." Matt's voice is as bland as his facial expression, but the stare in his eyes is as sharp as a knife.

Rebekah nods to herself and takes her hand away from him, pasting a shaky smile on her face. "Now, ask me again what time it is," she says before she gets up from the bed and breaks the compulsion.

Matt shakes his head and rubs his eyes sleepily. "What time is it?"

"It's just past six." This time Rebekah does not clarify the time of day. "Go back to sleep. I'll wake you up when it's time for breakfast."

"Okay," Matt says then looks up in confusion. "Then why'd you wake me up in the first place?"

Rebekah stammers, taken aback for a second before she fishes an excuse from her stuttering brain. "I was just checking in on you."

"Uh huh."

"Go back to sleep." Rebekah says hastily and leaves the room before Matt can ask any more uncomfortable questions.

Caroline and Rebekah meet up in the driveway on the other side of the plantation. The Porsche is already facing in the right direction to head straight out.

"What took you so long?" Caroline braces one hand on her hip, drawing attention to her fitted black camisole and tight red leather pants. Her jaw drops when she looks at Rebekah's outfit. "Tell me you're kidding."

Rebekah growls in annoyance. She pulls on her red camisole and smooths a hand down her black leather pants. "Shut up and toss me the keys."

"Nu-uh, I'm driving." Caroline starts towards the driver's side of the car.

"Really, and how well do you know your way around New Orleans?" Rebekah says bitingly.

Caroline stops dead in her tracks with one hand on the door handle and curses under her breath.

She huffs and turns around. "Fine, you're driving." She chucks the keys at Rebekah as she circles around the front of the car to the passenger side.

"Thought so." Rebekah catches the keys with a victorious grin as she walks up to the driver's side and gets in the car.


	3. Chapter 3

**"Look around. Vampires rule this city now. We don't have to live in the shadows like rats. The locals know their place. They look the other way. I got rid of the werewolves. I even found a way to shut down the witches. The blood never stops flowing and the party never ends. You wanna pass on through? You wanna stay a while? Great. What's mine is yours, but it is _mine. _My home, my family, my rules."**

Bourbon Street is teeming with people by the time they get out of the garage on Canal Street and start their track up the famous strip. The growing crowd of locals and tourists alike fills the sidewalks and flows over into the street. It's a little early for the bar-hoppers, but there is plenty of entertainment in the form of all types of performers on both sides of the street.

Caroline catches herself staring open mouthed at a half naked guy juggling burning torches before Rebekah grabs her arm and pulls her away.

Rebekah keeps a firm grip on Caroline as she pulls her further down the street. "Unless you brought plenty of spare cash, I suggest you don't look too closely for too long or you'll be broke before we reach the Cat's Meow."

"What?" Caroline hurries to catch up before Rebekah rips out her arm, casting one last longing look over her shoulder. "Is that where Klaus's studio is?"

Rebekah rolls her eyes. "No, but it is one of his favorite watering holes and we have to start somewhere."

Caroline quickly pulls her arm out of Rebekah's grip and stops in the middle of the street. "Then why don't we start at his place?"

Rebekah stops and whirls around. "Take a look around, Caroline." She spreads her arms to indicate their surroundings. "This is the Big Easy, not some boring backwater town in Virginia."

Caroline can't help but look around her at the musicians, artists and acrobats.

Rebekah sighs and drops her arms. "With everything going on around here, do you really think my brother would spend the night tucked away in some dingy studio apartment?"

Caroline bites her lip as she avoids looking Rebekah in the eyes. She can almost see Klaus, leaning casually against the street sign at the corner, telling her that he is standing in one of his favorite places in the world.

"No," Caroline says as her shoulders sag. "He wouldn't." She buries her face in her hands, giving in to the feeling of resignation.

It could take days to find Klaus, even if he doesn't venture out of the French Quarter, and by the time they find him it might be too late. Silas could drop the veil at any moment. Bonnie might be his hostage or his accomplice and neither Caroline nor Rebekah stand a chance against Silas alone. Caroline stops her train of thought right there before it can derail any further.

She wipes the desolation off her face and pulls her hair back then straightens her shoulders and starts walking. "Okay, let's go find your wayward brother. We don't have any time to waste."

The Cat's Meow is a let down. The patrons are mostly in their early twenties to mid-thirties, and from all walks of life but a quick scan of the quickly growing crowd reveals that Klaus isn't among them.

Caroline is ready to leave right away and continue to the next place, but a well-manicured hand around her arm stops her in mid-turn. "You know, you really have to stop doing that." Caroline looks pointedly at Rebekah's hand.

Rebekah ignores the waspish comment and pulls her towards a booth in the back that has a semi-clear view to the stage. "Let's stay a while and have a drink."

"What's going on?" Caroline forcefully pulls her arm out of Rebekah's grip, but follows her to the booth anyway.

She's definitely interested in whatever put the spooked and suspicious look on the female Original's face.

Rebekah shifts close to her as soon as they're seated and keeps her voice so low only a vampire would be able to hear it through the din of music and patrons. "That guy getting on stage? Marcel. Klaus's last real protege, pre-Stefan." She stops talking abruptly.

The crowd quiets down almost immediately as the handsome stranger begins to sing a sultry blues number.

Now that everything has slowed down a bit, Caroline notices for the first time that a good chunk of the crowd is actually made up of vampires. Even more disturbingly, all of them are wearing rather prominent silver rings on their fingers. Caroline gently nudges Rebekah with her elbow, drawing her attention to the daylight rings.

Rebekah nods. "Yeah, I noticed." She shifts out of her seat and gets up, not taking her eyes off the vampire singing on the stage. "You know what? I changed my mind. Let's get out of here."

The singer looks pretty oblivious to their presence. His eyes are closed and he's absorbed in the show he's putting on for the crowd.

Caroline takes her cue from Rebekah, getting up quickly and catching up to the other girl. They make their way through the riveted crowd shoulder to shoulder as the song winds to a close.

They've almost made it to the door when a booming male voice stops them. "Rebekah Mikaelson!"

Rebekah closes her eyes and drops her head.

Caroline tenses up, ready to take her cue from the older girl again, wondering if it'll be fight or flight.

Rebekah sucks in a breath, straightens her shoulders and turns around with a brilliant smile on her face. "Marcel!"

Marcel grabs Rebekah by the hands, unabashedly invading her personal space to press a kiss to her left and then her right cheek. "I knew I recognized that beautiful derriere walking away from me."

He smiles charmingly at her for a moment before turning his attention to Caroline. "And who is your belle amie?"

Caroline introduces herself before Rebekah can do it for her. "I'm Caroline." She holds out her hand to shake his.

Marcel's smile widens as he lets go of one of Rebekah's hands to take Caroline's. "Ah, what a beautiful name for a beautiful girl." His lips barely brush over the back of her hand.

Caroline suppresses a cold shiver and her smile freezes as she pulls her hand out of his grip. "Do you always lay it on so thick?"

Rebekah shoots a warning glare at Caroline as she gently takes her hand out of Marcel's and lays it on his arm instead. "You have to forgive her. She's a small town girl on her first big trip. She's not used to the many charms of the Big Easy."

Marcel nods. "So is that what brings you here? Educating the next generation on the charms of my city?" He looks pointedly between the two of them, noting their similarities. "I never thought you were the type."

Rebekah looks offended for a moment before she composes herself. "Not really. I have some business to take care of and just thought that we should enjoy a bit of culture while the opportunity presents itself."

Marcel's smile widens as he raises a brow in curiosity. "And would your 'business' have anything to do with your illustrious brother's recent return?"

Rebekah smiles icily. "Not necessarily. But, I guess, while we're here we might as well pay him a visit. I don't suppose you've seen Klaus?"

Marcel shakes his head slowly. "Not since yesterday. He was kind enough to help out one of my friends who unexpectedly got bitten by a werewolf."

Caroline can't take the cat and mouse game anymore. "And do you know where we can find him?"

"Maybe." Marcel is completely unperturbed by Caroline's acerbic attitude, obviously enjoying her frustration. He cocks his head to the side. "Maybe I'll even tell you, if you let me buy you a drink. What do you say?" His look trails slowly over her body, clearly undressing her in his imagination.

Caroline snaps as the filter between her brain and mouth spontaneously combusts. "Sure, and maybe Klaus will even give you a chance to explain why you didn't tell me where to find him before he rips out your liver for hitting on me."

Something flashes through Marcel's eyes as he unconsciously falls back before he takes a conscious step forward with a predatory grin on his face. "Is that so?"

Rebekah closes her eyes in exasperation, her whole posture perfectly rigid for a moment before she opens her eyes again and looks at Caroline with nothing but distain. "Your delusional obsession with my brother clearly makes you overestimate your importance to him."

Caroline opens her mouth to protest, but she doesn't get the chance to say anything.

Rebekah glares sharply at her, raising her brows to signal a warning as she speaks. "If he actually cared about you, he would have let you know his new whereabouts before he left, don't you think?"

Caroline's spine stiffens as she catches on and realizes her mistake. She just hopes there is still a chance to mitigate the damage that she's already done.

She blinks quickly and pushes her bottom lip out in a convincing pout, pretending to be hurt by Rebekah's comment. "Even if we're not technically exclusive that doesn't mean I have to let just anybody flirt with me."

Caroline summons the most asinine expression from her pre-vampiric arsenal and flicks her hair over her shoulder as she looks down her nose at Marcel. "I'm sorry. You're just not my type."

Marcel's expression is guarded as he looks back and forth between the two girls, but he can't completely hide the fact that he's taken aback by the similarities between them.

"Apology accepted," he finally says gallantly. "After all, there is no accounting for taste." After a beat, he nods to himself and his charming smile returns. "So, if you want to make it up to me, how about you buy me a drink?"

Caroline's smile is as fake as the one she wore for the Miss Mystic Falls pageant years ago. "We really should be..." She jumps slightly at the painful pressure of Rebekah's nails pinching her back. "Sure, why not."

Hours later, Caroline and and Rebekah are finally on their way back to the parking garage on Canal Street. They ended up bar-hopping with Marcel and his gang for the rest of the night until they finally were able to bid their goodbyes on the other end of Bourbon Street near Esplanade Ave. Three pubs, twelve bars and a half-dozen clubs and they hadn't bumped into Klaus anywhere. The only thing they managed to do was to convince Marcel that any feelings between her and Klaus were purely one-sided on Caroline's part.

"This was a complete bust," Caroline says loudly, throwing her hands up. "I don't think Marcel even knows where Klaus is."

Rebekah hums thoughtfully as she slows down her gait. "No, but I think he intends for us to find out for him."

Caroline slows down as well and turns her head to look at Rebekah with one eyebrow raised in question. "You think so?"

Rebekah nods and inhales deeply, subtly jerking her head in the direction they came from. "Ah, the sweet, scented air of New Orleans."

Caroline sucks in a deep breath through her nose and smells something else entirely. The stench of beer and blood coming from the same direction that Rebekah just pointed out. They're being followed by two of Marcel's cronies.

"Yeah, I think I could get used to this," Caroline says casually then mouths silently 'Fight or run?' as they continue to walk along the rows of parked cards.

Rebekah slowly smiles, her face lighting up with relief. 'Fight,' she mouths back.

Caroline nods in understanding and keeps watching Rebekah for her next cue. She doesn't even question why she's willing to follow the original's lead.

"Now," Rebekah says out loud as they step around a large pillar before she blurs into motion.

Caroline bursts into vampiric speed as well and goes after Rebekah, appearing behind one of their stalkers a split second later. She snaps his neck from behind just in time to spare him the sight of Rebekah ripping his buddy's heart out and dropping it to the floor.

"You know what I hate most about being a vampire?" Rebekah says casually as she wipes her hands on the dead vampire's t-shirt.

Caroline looks from the unconscious vampire in her arms to the other one already desiccated on the ground. "Let me guess: clean-up."


	4. Chapter 4

**"****It turns out some people can't be fixed. People who do terrible things are just terrible people."**

Rebekah strolls casually around the single chair in the middle of the room as she dumps a full glass of water on its bound and gagged occupant. She watches with a smile as the vervain laced liquid starts to take effect.

The vampire wakes up screaming as the poisonous herb burns his face. His eyes flick around wildly, taking in the empty room and bare stone walls around him before he focuses on the callously grinning blonde standing in front of him with an empty glass in her hand.

"Good morning, sunshine," Rebekah says sweetly before she hurls the glass violently into the far corner of the room.

The hostage flinches at the sudden noise, and starts twisting his arms to test the strength of the vervain laced ropes around his wrists.

Rebekah steps closer to the chair and leans down to look directly into the red, blistered face. "You and I are going to have a little talk."

The dark-haired vampire leans his head back to glare at her then almost goes cross-eyed to indicate the gag in his mouth before he looks back at her with a disparaging stare.

Rebekah chuckles. "Oh, no. That's alright." She slowly walks around the chair. "You see, I don't need you to actually talk for right now." She stops directly behind him.

"I'm just going to ask you a few simple 'yes' or 'no' questions." She suddenly grabs his spiky hair and pulls, yanking his head back until it almost snaps his neck.

"And you are going to nod or shake your head depending on what the answer is." To make her point, she forces his head to bob up and down, then left to right in quick jerky motions.

"And don't lie to me, alright?" She jerks his head around so she can see his face. "Because if you do, I'm going to snap your neck again and you don't want to know how I'd wake you up the second time around."

She smiles benignly but the moment her fingers let go of his hair, she snaps her hand back and cracks him hard across the back of the head. "Got it?"

The vampire groans in pain and nods slowly, disoriented from the blow to the head.

"Very good." Rebekah is still smiling as she walks back around the chair to stand in front of him. "Let's start then, shall we?"

Upstairs, Caroline sits across from Matt at the breakfast table and tries not to flinch at Matt's angry outburst.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He bangs his fist against the table and glares at her, trying to contain his anger. "You could have gotten killed. Both of you."

"We had it under control. Rebekah and I knew what we were doing," Caroline says defensively.

"I'm sure you did. That's why she compelled me to stay here all night in the first place, and why you ended up dragging one of them back as a hostage."

"We only did what had to be done," Caroline snaps back hotly before she realizes what Matt just said. "Wait, how did you know she compelled you?"

Matt rolls his eyes. "I've been taking vervain on a daily basis for the past two years. It amazes me that you forgot about that."

Caroline blinks rapidly and shakes her head. "But then why did you pretend that it worked?"

Matt shrugs and looks away. "She was doing it to protect me."

"I don't get you, Matt." Caroline huffs in disbelief. "Why on earth do you care what- Ow!"

"Rebekah." Matt pulls his leg back and looks up at the blonde who just entered the room through the entrance behind Caroline's back.

Caroline rubs her shin where Matt kicked her. She's pretty sure he left a dent. "Brute."

Matt ignores her and raises his voice over her muttering. "Did you find out anything?"

"Not much." Rebekah sinks into an empty chair across the table from Matt and starts to pour a cup of coffee for herself. "Marcel is the king of the city, he ran the werewolves out of town and controls the witches that are still here, and everyone has to play by his rules, blah, blah, blah."

Caroline holds out her cup and looks expectantly at Rebekah. "Is that all? We could have guessed that much from the way he was acting last night."

Rebekah returns the look with narrowed eyes, but finally concedes and pours a cup for Caroline. "Yes, but there were a couple things we couldn't have guessed." She fills up Matt's cup as well. "It seems that my brother has managed to piss off Marcel something fierce."

Matt accepts the refill with a small smile. "Thank you."

Rebekah smiles back at him. "You're welcome."

Caroline doesn't have the patience to deal with the couple's tentative attempts at flirting right now. "Well, what did he say?"

Rebekah's gaze snaps back to Caroline with a heated glare. "Our hostage basically told me that Klaus wasn't too pleased when Marcel killed a witch in public and that the situation escalated when he found out Marcel was having him followed."

Caroline takes in the information and adds it to what little she already knows about the relationship between Klaus and his protege from last night's conversation with Marcel.

Rebekah continues after she takes a sip from her coffee. "According to Whiny down there, the two that followed Klaus ended up dead and that same night he attacked another one of Marcel's guys in a fit of fury. Then he nearly let the minion die before he decided to go back and save him in front of Marcel and most of his inner circle. A rather gauche display of power, if you ask me."

Caroline nods and takes a sip from her cup as she remembers what Marcel said when they asked him about Klaus's whereabouts yesterday. "The unexpected werewolf bite."

"Naturally," Rebekah confirms with a smile. "Afterward, he immediately disappeared and nobody has seen him since."

"He hasn't answered his phone either," Caroline adds helpfully.

The looks on both Matt and Rebekah's faces make it clear that she just stated something painfully obvious.

"What?" Caroline asks defensively. "Of course I tried calling him. Once before we left Mystic Falls and a couple times after we got here, but it keeps going straight to voice-mail."

"Obviously, Klaus doesn't want to be found right now." Rebekah finishes her coffee and sits the cup down with a loud clank. "Unfortunately for him, I don't have any time to waste, because I want that cure and we need to get it back before Silas can use it."

"Obviously." Caroline uses the opportunity to return the accusatory look for stating the obvious. "So how do we find him?"

Rebekah remains quiet for a moment, twisting the empty cup between her fingers on the table. She finally looks up again with a decisive expression on her face. "I didn't want to do this, but seeing as there's no other choice, I'm going to arrange a meeting with Elijah."

Caroline raises one brow sceptically. "And what makes you think you can get a hold of him?"

Rebekah shrugs nonchalantly. "He's got his own agenda, hoping to recapture the glory days of our twisted family."

Caroline falls back into her chair and stares at the ceiling, praying for patience she doesn't have. "This just keeps getting better and better."

Matt takes a more pragmatic approach to the situation. "Do you think he's going to tell you were Klaus is?" he asks calmly.

Rebekah cocks her head to the side. "Maybe," she says with a smug smile, "If I can convince him that I've changed my mind and want to be brought back into the warm embrace of my beloved brothers."

Matt's brows furrow as he grimaces. "You might want to take it down a notch if you're trying to look sincere."

Rebekah's smile softens for a moment. "Don't worry, I'll sell it."

Caroline has no trouble believing that statement. She just wishes Rebekah had decided to bring her other brother into this a little earlier and spared them the trouble of dealing with Marcel and his cronies last night.

"Great, let me know when you have Klaus's location." Caroline gets up and starts to leave but lingers in the doorway. She almost forgot about one loose end.

Turning around with one hand on the doorpost, she looks directly at Rebekah. "And if you didn't do it yet, can you take care of the guy in the basement?" she asks casually.

Rebekah rolls her eyes. "Please, I killed him the moment I was done with him." She doesn't realize her faux pas until it's too late.

"Thanks." Caroline's facial expression becomes grim as she shifts her gaze pointedly towards Matt. "I thought so."

His face is completely expressionless and his whole body is rigid as he looks at Rebekah.

"I'll see you later." Caroline turns her back on them and leaves without looking back.


	5. Chapter 5

**"****For future reference, one voice-mail is just as effective as nine." **

With nothing to do but wait until Rebekah returns from her meeting with Elijah, Caroline decides she might as well explore the extensive grounds of the plantation. Beyond the immediate surroundings of the cultivated garden she has her choice between the swamp-lands near the river and the endless stretches of grass and sugar-cane on the other side.

She's reminded of the Lockwood property as she walks along the nature trail between gnarled trees and sparse underbrush. She half-expects to stumble upon the ruins of the old cellar. She wonders where Tyler is right now and how he's doing.

"I got your message."

Caroline jumps and whirls around with bared fangs, ready to fight or run if it turns out she can't take on her opponent alone.

Klaus leans casually against the trunk of a white oak tree about twenty feet away. He has both hands in his pockets and a cocky smile on his face.

"You!" Caroline's facial features return to their human state, but she immediately starts advancing on him.

Klaus chuckles, unperturbed until he sees Caroline blur into vampire-speed.

He barely manages to avoid being tackled and speeds to another tree. "Now, luv, is that any way-" He is forced to stop mid-sentence to avoid a second tackle.

Caroline doesn't care why his cocky attitude pisses her off more than usual. She just really wants to wrap her fingers around his neck and strangle him until he squeaks.

The third time around, Klaus decides to stay where he is and allows her to collide with him at full speed. Unfortunately, he miscalculates the trajectory and force of Caroline's rage.

They crash into a bald cypress and a low hanging branch thrusts straight through his back, penetrates his liver and breaks a rib on the way out of his chest.

He screams on impact and barely manages to hold Caroline off him before she can accidentally stake herself.

Caroline swallows the sudden lump in her throat. Her fists are still curled into Klaus's jacket as she stares wide-eyed at the long piece of wood protruding from his chest, the tip less than an inch away from piercing hers.

Klaus coughs then groans in pain when the sudden movement jars the branch inside him. "Why do I always get hurt when we meet?"

Caroline looks up from the wound and at Klaus's face, her rage momentarily drowned out by concern. "I'm-"

He cuts her off with a roar, ripping himself off the branch and forcing her backwards as he speeds them into another tree. This time it's Caroline with her back to the bark and Klaus's hands on her shoulders, keeping her there.

Caroline gasps in shock as her back hits the tree. She half-expects to see a branch sticking out of her chest when she looks down. A sigh of relief escapes her when she realizes that she's perfectly fine. She's not sure what she feels when she looks back up to meet Klaus's gaze.

Klaus rolls his eyes at her and moves his hands to brace them against the tree, boxing her in. "Now, can we talk like two reasonable adults?"

That quickly, his attitude raises her hackles again. "I don't know. Do you think you're capable of reason?"

Klaus chuckles and leans closer. "I don't know." His gaze slides slowly towards her slightly parted lips. "I've noticed my ability to reason is greatly impaired whenever we're in close proximity."

Caroline breathes heavily, her eyes glued to his face as she waits for him to move. She has already closed half of the space between them by the time she realizes she's leaning towards him.

She quickly turns and ducks out under his arm to walk away and put some much needed distance between them. "How did you know we're here?"

Klaus shrugs dismissively as he catches up and falls into step beside her. "My little sister is nothing if not predictable."

"Great," Caroline mutters to herself then cocks her head to look sharply at Klaus. "So, care to explain why you ran off in the middle of a crisis?"

Klaus calmly folds his hands behind his back, ignoring his still bleeding wound, and smiles charmingly. "Said crisis had already passed the tipping point before I left and something came up that needed my immediate attention." He hastily continues to reassure her. "I had every intention to return, of course, but now that you're here I don't really see a need for that."

Caroline stops dead, her arms akimbo as she stares at him in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

Klaus stops walking as well and turns to look at her. "Of course I am."

He takes a step closer and slowly leans towards her as he lowers his voice. "You don't know how happy it makes me that you came here; to know that you're out of harm's way."

"Oh, no, you don't get to do that." Caroline pulls back, grimacing in disgust. "You do not get to act all concerned about my safety." She puts a hand on his chest to keep him at arms length. "Not after you dropped the cure right into Silas' hands and then left town without a word." She points a warning finger at him. "Especially not because you did it with less than a month to go before Graduation!"

Klaus blinks in surprise as the corners of his mouth start to twitch. "I'm glad to see you haven't lost sight of your priorities in all this."

Caroline narrows her eyes and curls her finger back into a fist. She had known on some level that it wasn't going to be easy to convince Klaus, but she is not willing to accept defeat just yet.

She juts out her chin and crosses her arms defiantly. "I'm going back to fight Silas, and I expect you to come with me."

Klaus loses his composure for a moment and barks out a laugh. "You're not serious."

Caroline presses her lips together and glares at him expectantly. She knows that he knows she's serious.

He chuckles and shakes his head then looks back at her with a mixture of adoration and disbelief. "Caroline, just because I care about you a great deal does not mean I am suddenly prone to compulsive fits of heroic stupidity."

He clucks his tongue in reproach as he turns away from her and keeps walking. "You have clearly spent too much time in the company of the Salvatore brothers."

Caroline's jaw drops in outrage at his dismissive attitude. "And you clearly haven't spent enough!"

She hurries her steps to catch up with him. "Ugh, why am I wasting my breath here?"

She grabs his arm and swings around in front of him to make him look at her. "Let me put it in a way you will understand: Do you honestly believe that, just because there's an eleven hour drive between you and Mystic Falls, the skeletons in your closet won't find you?"

She takes a step closer, invading his personal space bubble as she lowers her voice to a dangerous purr. "Because when that veil drops they're all going to come out and that includes your dear old mom and dad."

Klaus closes his eyes, sucks in a deep breath through his nose and releases it slowly. His chin drops to his chest and he stands perfectly still for a long moment before he opens his eyes again, looking directly into Caroline's. "I've killed them before, I can do it again."

Caroline throws her arms up with a scream of frustration and turns away from Klaus, looking to the sky for answers that aren't forthcoming. "What on earth is so important in New Orleans that you can't come back to help fix the mess you created?"

"The gumbo's much better on this side of the Mississippi," Klaus says flippantly.

"Ugh!" Caroline's fingers curl reflexively as she throws a glance over her shoulder and imagines strangling that smug smirk off his face. "You...ugh! I can't even look at you right now."

She starts to walk away from him again but she doesn't get very far.

Klaus is right behind her, pressed up against her back with a firm grip on both of her arms to make sure she can't get enough leverage to elbow his broken rib. He moves his head until their faces are side by side and takes a moment to breathe in her scent, enjoying the fact that she's squirming in his arms.

When he finally speaks, his voice is low and seductive. "I have my reasons for staying, Caroline, but I don't want to drag you into it."

Caroline tries to stand perfectly still. She doesn't even want to breathe because Klaus could easily kill her right now. All it takes is one bite and there is nothing she can do to stop him. She sucks in a stuttering breath when she feels his grip suddenly shift.

Klaus wraps an arm around her chest as his other hand moves to brush her hair away from her neck. "Just stay here on the plantation. Explore the countryside and entertain yourself."

He gently grazes the back of one finger over her neck, watching the goosebumps rise on her skin with a satisfied smile. "I'm sure my sister will have plenty of ideas to pass the time."

Caroline swallows quietly and closes her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. She hates the fact that his voice makes her shiver for all the wrong reasons, regardless of everything he has done. She hates that she's beginning to lean into his embrace.

Klaus smiles and pauses for a moment before he continues. "Have fun, enjoy the vacation and before you know it, I'll have everything sorted out and then if there's still a reason to return to Mystic Falls, we can stop by if you insist."

Caroline is fighting tears at this point because a part of her desperately wants to shout 'yes' at the top of her lungs. She's eighteen years old and this is the first time she's been anywhere outside of Virginia. She's already given up so much. She's died and killed for her friends. She doesn't want to constantly be in danger and at this point she's lost all of them in one way or another, with the exception of Matt, who is only a few hundred yards away, safe inside the plantation house.

"I..." Her voice cracks and she squeezes her eyes closed and clears her throat. "Let go of me."

"Caroline," he says quietly, imploring her to accept his offer. "Please."

"No." Caroline shakes her head and breaks loose form his grip, prying his arm away from her and twisting around to face him.

He lets her turn around but keeps a hold of her hand, not letting her escape so easily. "Caroline." This time his voice rings with an unmistakable warning.

"I said let me go!" She yanks her hand away from him and puts a couple more steps of distance between them. "Fine, if you don't care, then don't! But I'm going back."

She holds one finger up in warning, convincing herself that it's only to keep Klaus from stepping closer to her. "I will fight Silas and I will save my friends, with or without you. So, enjoy your damn countryside and your superior gumbo."

Her breath is coming in heavy bursts and she sniffs angrily because the tears are still stinging at her eyes. "But if you're not going to help me then don't ever show your face to me again!"

Klaus is dumbstruck when she suddenly bursts into vampire-speed and disappears. He stares at the empty space she just vacated and sucks in a deep breath. His anger rises quickly to the surface and he slams his fist into the nearest tree with a furious roar.


	6. Chapter 6

**"****So now I have magnified ****_jealousy _****issues too?"**

Caroline storms into the house, slamming the door behind her as she rushes up the stairs to her room. She hates that she's so upset, but she had really expected to be able to talk Klaus around. Of course, that was delusional. Why in the world would Klaus Mikaelson ever do anything simply because she asked for it?

She throws herself down on the bed, ready to have a good old-fashioned temper tantrum before she has to figure out a new plan.

The door to her room opens after a perfunctory knock. It's Rebekah, talking over her shoulder to Matt who's still outside. "If we wait 'til she's finished now, she's just going to yell at me later anyway, so it really makes no difference to me."

Rebekah ignores Matt's warning look as she saunters further into the room.

Caroline looks over her shoulder with a wet glare. "Do you mind!"

Rebekah scoffs. "No, I don't." She crosses her arms and raises her chin confidently. "I found out where Klaus is."

Caroline laughs bitterly. "Good for you," she says sarcastically. "So did I. And I know where he can go, too." She grabs the first decorative pillow she can reach and throws it at Rebekah. "Straight to hell for all I care."

"Whoa." Rebekah easily catches the pillow and hurls it back at Caroline. "What are you on about?"

Caroline catches it and hugs it against her chest. "He found me in the woods. It didn't go very well."

Rebekah shrugs and raises her brows. "You're still in one piece, I'd say it went fairly well."

Caroline's jaw drops as she looks at Rebekah in outrage. "He's refusing to help us and basically suggested that you and I should spend our days trophy-wifing while Silas takes the cure and I lose my friends forever!"

Matt looks between the two girls and starts to backtrack out of the room. "Why don't I leave you two to talk?"

Caroline's eyes go wide as she jerks her head around to look at Matt. "What? Why? Where are you going?"

Matt smiles at her but keeps walking backwards. "Just because I'm a nice guy doesn't mean I want to listen to girl-talk, Care. So, just catch me up on the gist when you're done, okay?"

"Wait, who says I want to - " Rebekah swings around on her heel, trying to stop Matt before he can escape, but he's already out the door and closing it behind him. "Have a girl-talk," she finishes her sentence with narrowed eyes.

Sucking in an exaggerated breath, Rebekah rolls her eyes and turns swiftly around again to glare at Caroline. "Fine, so my brother was an abrasive jerk. I really don't know what else you expected."

Caroline opens her mouth and closes it again then opens it a second time when she finally has a reasonable response to the implied question. "I expected him to at least consider that it's in his best interest to keep Silas from dropping the veil, if nothing else."

Rebekah shrugs. "Well, he might be a little bit too preoccupied with matters at hand to think clearly right now."

The vague explanation makes Caroline snap. "That's the same type of stupid, bullshit reason he gave me!"

She flings the pillow across the room and jumps out of the bed to start pacing. "What could possibly be so damn preoccupying that he doesn't even blink at the possibility of Mikael and Esther coming back from the dead?" At this point she has paced her way right in front of Rebekah.

Rebekah doesn't back off. Instead she keeps her arms crossed and leans forward, getting right into Caroline's face. "Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that he went and got some werewolf bitch pregnant and now the witches are using the baby as blackmail material to force him into a war against his own protege?"

"What?" Caroline blinks rapidly, her mouth hanging open in shock for about a second before her ability to reason returns. "That's impossible!" And that should be the end of that but for some reason another pressing question is hammering at her until she voices it out loud. "Who?"

Rebekah shrugs and uncrosses her arms long enough to wave one hand dismissively. "I don't know. Elijah never said. And what does it matter who she is?"

She starts pacing as well, her head bowed in contemplation for a moment before she looks back up with a dark expression on her face. "What matters is that her spawn is what's keeping Nik shackled to New Orleans."

Caroline shakes her head in denial. "No, it's impossible. Vampires can't make babies."

Rebekah rolls her eyes. "Supposedly, he's different because he's a hybrid."

Caroline whirls around and starts pulling her hair in frustration at that non-logic. "Hybrid-vampire. Emphasis on the vampire-bit." She can't believe that some werewolf bitch has duped Klaus into thinking that she's pregnant. "Don't you think if Hybrid sperm broke the rules of vampirism, I'd have a litter of Tyler's pups by now?"

Rebekah rolls her eyes. "Of course not. Vampires can't have children."

"Exactly!" Caroline jabs a finger in Rebekah's direction and almost snarls in mad triumph.

The expression on Rebekah's face makes it clear that Caroline is losing it just a little bit.

Caroline doesn't care. She pulls herself to her full height and crosses her arms decisively. "I'm going to have to go see that bitch," she says waspishly, picking up steam.

Rebekah snickers as she watches Caroline flip out over the news. "And just how, pray tell are you going to find her?" she asks teasingly.

"I - " Caroline pauses for a second, realizing she has no idea where to start looking. "I'll find her. How hard can it be? I'll lace every pregnant woman's drink in this city with wolfsbane if I have to," she threatens hotly.

Rebekah can hardly hold back her laughter anymore. "That sounds like an awful lot of work," she says between suppressed guffaws.

"I don't care!" Caroline roars as she swings around and lashes out. She kicks the vanity bench so hard it splinters as it crashes against the wall. "I'll find that bitch and then I'll rip the truth out of her together with her spine!"

Rebekah covers her mouth with one hand until she is able to speak without laughing. "Well, then. I suppose we're lucky that Elijah told me exactly where the witches are keeping her."

Caroline takes a deep breath, fighting for composure. Listening to Rebekah's snickering is not helping, but she has an idea how to make the other girl zip it up. "Good, and you can come with me."

Rebekah stops laughing at that and opens her mouth to protest, but she doesn't get the chance.

"And 'before you know it, I'll have everything sorted out'," Caroline mocks Klaus's accent as she quotes him.

A snarl slips past her lips as she storms past Rebekah on her way out the door, intent on finding Matt to let him in on the plan. "And then we're all going back to Mystic Falls and getting rid of Silas once and for all."

In the end, they left Matt at the plantation again. When it comes down to it, neither Rebekah nor Caroline are willing to risk his life. That is why Caroline is now traipsing down the main path between endless rows of mausoleums seemingly alone while Rebekah watches her from the shadows.

According to Marcel's lackey, witches are afraid to use magic around here, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get past them. That doesn't mean Caroline isn't a little apprehensive when she sees four women standing guard around one particular mausoleum.

"Ugh, that bitch had better be in there." Caroline narrows her eyes and bursts into vampiric speed.

She reappears behind the stone building a second later, grabs the two witches there and knocks their heads together. They drop to the floor unconscious before either of them can make a sound.

Caroline grins in satisfaction and jumps quietly onto the roof of the mausoleum. She crouches down and holds her breath to listen in on the conversation going on below between the two witches standing guard at the only entrance to the tomb.

"Damn it Beatrice, I really have to pee."

"You're kidding me, right? You knew this was a six hour shift. Why didn't you go before?"

"Beey-yaah."

"Oh, just go already!"

"Yes, I'll be back as quick as I can!"

Caroline can't believe her luck. These witches are definitely not professionals.

She waits until the whiny girl has completely disappeared down the sandy path towards the exit of the cemetery. Then she vaults herself down off the roof and lands with a smile in front of the only remaining witch.

"Hello," she says with a smile then punches the girl just hard enough to knock her out. "Goodnight."

Caroline flashes a cocky smile up toward the trees behind her where she assumes Rebekah is watching. She is definitely better at this sort of thing than the other girl gave her credit for. After another moment, she ducks through the entrance into the crypt.

The mausoleum is lit better than she expected with torches along both sides and a small fire in the corner of the rectangular stone room. A huddled figure is curled up near the fire with their back to the entrance, watching some game-show on a crappy old television that is hooked up to a small generator.

"I told you to leave me the hell alone! I don't want your damn company."

Caroline stops in mid-stride at the familiar female voice. She blinks rapidly, trying to place it.

"Are you deaf? I said get the hell out!"

Caroline sees the figure swing around and barely manages to dodge the plate that comes flying towards her face. She doesn't even hear it crash against the wall behind her because her ears are ringing as she recognizes the brunette girl wrapped in the gauche quilt.

"Hayley?!"

The color drains out of Hayley's face as she recognizes Caroline as well. Expressions of confusion, hope, and relief chase each other across her face until she sees Caroline's face change and her fangs drop with a threatening growl.

All reason flies out the window and Caroline lunges at the brunette, ready to tear her limb from limb right then and there.

Hayley reacts immediately and starts running for her life, dashing out the door and directly into Rebekah's arms. She doesn't even see the needle that pierces her neck before she passes out with a strangled scream.

Rebekah pulls the syringe out and shows it to Caroline as she drops Hayley's unconscious body to the ground. "Sedative mixed with wolfsbane, works like a charm," she says with a smile.

Caroline looks at the motionless lump of she-bitch at their feet. "I'd have to agree." She stoops down and starts to pull on one arm. "Shall we, then?"

Rebekah watches her struggle with the cumbersome weight for a moment before she stoops down as well and grabs the other arm. "Yeah, let's get out of here before pee-witch comes back and sounds the alarm."

When they get back to the plantation, Hayley is still out cold so they put her in the same room where they kept Marcel's lackey, tie her up in the chair and leave her there.

Matt is waiting for them in the small drawing room upstairs. He takes one look at Caroline and his expression changes from curiosity to concern.

Caroline tries to sort out everything that is clanging around in her head, clamoring for attention right now. She can't believe Klaus slept with Hayley. She can't believe Hayley's pregnant. She can't believe she's ready to rip out Hayley's spinal cord because the she-bitch slept with Klaus and is having his baby.

As the thoughts are rolling through her head, Caroline keeps pacing across the room, both arms wound tightly around her chest.

She wonders who is going to break the silence first so she won't have to scream to create some sort of noise to drown out the thoughts in her head.

Rebekah is the good Samaritan for once in her eternal life, however unwittingly. "So, why do I get the feeling you know that girl downstairs?"

"Wait, you actually brought her here?" Matt interrupts with a worried frown.

Caroline snorts and keeps pacing as she answers Rebekah's question. "Hayley? Oh, maybe because she's the girl who 'helped' Tyler break the pack off from Klaus's sire bond and almost got him killed in the process when your brother went berserk and slaughtered all his hybrids."

"Hayley's the pregnant werewolf?" Matt interrupts again, this time getting up from his seat.

"She's not pregnant!" Caroline bursts out, aimlessly lunging towards Matt.

Rebekah bursts into motion to put herself between them, grabbing Caroline by the shoulders to prevent her from getting at Matt. "Caroline, stop!" She shakes the girl by the shoulders.

Caroline's eyes grow wide as she looks over Rebekah's shoulder at Matt, realizing what she almost did. "I'm so sorry!"

Rebekah ignores Caroline's self-flagellating in favor of racking her brain for a memory. "Hayley. Why is that name so familiar?" She closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose as she tries to remember where she's heard the name before.

It hits her like a ton of bricks. "She's Tyler's werewolf friend, Hayley!" Rebekah laughs as she looks up and lets go of Caroline's other shoulder with a quick shove. "She's the bitch that told Katherine all about Silas and the cure!"

Caroline immediately stops apologizing to Matt and rounds on Rebekah. "What?"

Rebekah nods and smiles as she places the memory. "Vaughn, one of the five hunters. He was on the island where we found Silas. He told us that a werewolf girl had met Katherine in New Orleans and told her all about the cure and what we were up to. It never dawned on me that it could be the same bitch Klaus got pregnant!"

Caroline blinks furiously as she listens to Rebekah, her over-active brain processing the information at lightning speed. Hayley told Katherine about the cure. Katherine had already been in New Orleans for reasons of her own when Hayley met her there.

Without a word, Caroline blurs into motion, speeding down to the basement and into Hayley's cell. Her speed makes the heavy wooden door burst open so hard that it bangs against the wall.

Hayley has barely enough time to look up in shock before something slams into her and barrels her over.

The bang of the chair colliding with the ground is still echoing against the stone walls when Caroline comes out of vampire speed crouched next to it with one hand firmly wrapped around Hayley's neck. She squeezes hard enough that she can feel the cartilage crunch and shift underneath her grip.

Caroline feels nothing but rage as she looks down into the fear-filled eyes of the she-bitch. "Tell me everything!" she roars as she pulls on Hayley's neck and bangs her head back against the ground.

Hayley struggles to take in breath as her eyes rolls wildly around the room. Her hands and feet are bound to the chair, her arms crushed underneath it. There is no escape.

Caroline bangs Hayley's head against the ground once more, her nails breaking through the thin skin of the werewolf's scrawny neck. "Tell me! I know you work for Katherine! Tell me what she did!"

She doesn't get to hear Hayley's gurgled response because someone is pulling her off of the bitch. Caroline starts kicking and screaming, ready to use her vampire strength until she recognizes the muscular arms around her chest.

Matt is using all his strength to pry Caroline away from Hayley. He's got both arms around her chest, trapping her arms to her sides. "Care, stop!" he says loudly but Caroline keeps writhing like an eel and kicking at the air with so much strength he almost loses his balance.

He finally barks at the top of his lungs, "Enough, Caroline! Calm down!" as he pulls her further away from the girl on the ground.

Rebekah enters the room at a casual stroll, taking in the scene with a smirk on her face. "If you want to, we can torture and maim the bitch together," she offers with a smile.

Matt grits his teeth and tries to ignore her, but when Caroline almost cracks the back of her head against his jaw, he jerks his head back and glares murderously at Rebekah. "Outside, now!"

Rebekah flinches and starts to retreat back into the hallway. "It was just a suggestion," she says mulishly.

Caroline finally starts to come back to her senses when they're out in the hallway with the door firmly closed behind them. Rage has always been the hardest emotion to deal with since she became a vampire.

She stops fighting and hangs limp inside Matt's arms, her feet dangling a couple of inches above the ground. "You can let me go now, Matt."

Matt doesn't release her from his grip. "Are you sure? If I do that, will you promise not to rush back in there and kill Hayley?"

Caroline's hands clench into fists at her side, but she manages to keep herself under control. "Yes."

Rebekah rolls her eyes at the two, crossing her arms impatiently. "You know we're still going to have to go in there if we want to get any type of information."

Matt gently lets Caroline down and sets her back on her feet as he glares over her head at Rebekah. "And I don't think either of you should be the one going back in."

Rebekah scoffs. "Oh really? Then who's going to question her?" She moves one hand to point it at the closed door between them and the werewolf.

Matt crosses his arms, straightens up to his full height and looks at her challengingly. "I'll do it."


	7. Chapter 7

Boy, I hope my thought process makes sense. It did make perfect sense in my head, so if it doesn't, just bear (bare? beer?) with me. Also? Thanks for all the amazing feedback. It is truly appreciated :-)

!

**"Because you're everything that I want to be. You're loyal, honest, kind. People root for you to succeed. Elena even died for you."**

Matt enters the cell with a folding chair under his arm. He closes the door quietly behind him and leans the chair against the wall before he slowly walks up to Hayley, letting her watch him.

He sets her upright again and takes his time going back to the folding chair. Once he opens it up, Matt places it facing her, leaving a few feet of distance between them, and sits down comfortably.

"Do you think you can talk?" He motions towards her throat, were dark purple bruises are already starting to form.

"What is this? Good cop/bad cop?" she asks with a raspy voice.

"No." Matt shakes his head as he leans back and loosely rests his arms on top of his legs. "It's more like nice human bus-boy and insanely angry vampire girls."

"And what makes you think that's going to work on me?" She snarls and tests the strength of her ropes, squirming and twisting as much as the restraints allow.

"Because I'm the only thing between you and them?" He points one thumb back over his shoulder at the closed door behind him.

Hayley rolls her eyes and scoffs dismissively. "Yeah, right. Like you care."

"Actually, I do." Matt says sincerely.

Hayley's eyes narrow as she looks at Matt speculatively. "You think you could really stop them if they try to rip me to shreds?"

He shrugs,spreading his hands palm-up. "One of them is my friend and the other one has a crush on me. I'd say right now, I'm the best chance you've got." He leaves it at that as he calmly rests his hands loosely between his legs.

Hayley stays quiet for a moment, watching Matt carefully as she keeps testing the strength of her restraints. "The ropes are too tight. Can you loosen them a bit?"

Matt chuckles and shakes his head. "Sorry, no can do."

"Why?" Hayley baits him. "Are you afraid of a little girl?" She drawls the insult then pouts facetiously.

Matt ignores the bait with a smile and crosses his arms as he raises his eyebrows skeptically at Hayley. "No, but I have a healthy respect for the strength of a fully grown werewolf."

Hayley chuckles coldly. "You're smarter than you look, Matt."

Matt sighs and rolls his eyes. "I choose to take that as a compliment." He uncrosses his arms and leans towards her, bracing his elbows on his thighs and twining his fingers loosely between his knees. "So, why don't you start by telling me how you ended up in New Orleans the first time around?"

Hayley raises her brows and cocks her head to the side, then winces in pain and straightens her neck. "This is actually my first time. Not as nice as the brochures described it."

Matt sighs and clenches his fingers a little as he looks up at Hayley under raised brows. "Why are you lying, Hayley?"

Her flinch is barely noticeable, but she can't hide her reaction completely.

He deliberately lowers his voice and leans closer. "Is it to protect Katherine? Do you really think she deserves that after what she did to you?"

Hayley snarls angrily and lurches forward in her restraints. "The bitch doesn't deserve anything but a stake to the chest." She catches herself and leans back, glaring down her nose at Matt. "But she's a hell of a lot more dangerous than you and team barbie out there."

Matt nods in agreement. "And yet you decided to work for her. Sounds like a pretty dumb decision to make."

Hayley loses her composure again, growling at the insult. "How was I supposed to know when I met her? She told me she could help me find my family!"

"Ah," Matt says slowly then clucks his tongue. "And I bet she didn't come through on that, either."

Hayley jerks her chin to the side and stares at a blank spot on the wall, refusing to look at Matt.

"Did she actually help you find your parents after you told her about the cure?" Matt presses the question.

Hayley remains silent, but the look on her face turns sour as her brows furrow and she purses her lips.

"She didn't," Matt says decisively. "She used you, pumped you for every bit of information you had and then left you high and dry when it came time to pay up on her end of the bargain."

"Left me?" Hayley whips her head around, glaring at Matt. "I wish!" She snorts. "She sent her damn minions after me to get rid of me!"

"And you didn't have anyone to turn to," Matt surmises, his voice gentle as he spreads his hands.

Hayley ducks her chin, and averts her gaze stubbornly to the floor. "Not anymore."

"Because your pack was already dead." Matt cocks his head to the side as he looks at Hayley contemplatively. Then his mouth drops open. "Except for the alpha."

Hayley raises her chin quickly and narrows her eyes in a poisonous glare. "That's not why I went to Klaus."

"Uh-huh," Matt says slowly. "Then why did you go to him?"

"Because I could tell from how much Katherine wanted the cure that Klaus really wanted her dead." Hayley shrugs. "I figured he was my best chance to get rid of her before she got rid of me."

Matt jerks his head back, his brows furrowing in surprise. "Katherine told you about Klaus?"

Hayley rolls one shoulder in a shrug. "She didn't use his name. She just said she had an old enemy who can't be killed so she needed the cure to get rid of him for good. Oh, and she did call him a hybrid once or twice. Not too many people around that fit that description, are there?"

Matt nods in agreement. "So you went back to Klaus and offered him information on Katherine in exchange for protection from her?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Hayley's voice is flippant but her face is a grim mask of self-loathing.

Matt snorts quietly at the answer but otherwise doesn't comment on it. "And then what happened?"

Hayley snorts in return as she trails her eyes over Matt's body lingering over his crotch before she raises her gaze again. "What do you think happened?"

He raises one brow and leans back with his arms crossed. "You slept together."

Hayley grins. "Sleep had nothing to do with it." She licks her lips and starts rolling her hips. "We rutted like animals." She lowers her voice to a seductive purr. "Nothing but mindless clothes-tearing, furniture-smashing, back-scratching, licking, biting and sucking all night long." She spreads her legs invitingly and smiles seductively at Matt. "A fun time was had by all."

Matt shifts in his seat, moving his eyes away from her spread legs to look at the floor. He swallows, sucks in a breath and releases it slowly before he looks back at Hayley with a hard stare. "That's definitely a good way to end up pregnant."

Hayley's expression falls immediately at the reminder and she closes her legs and sits up straighter. "Not really when you're dealing with a vampire." She shakes her head, looking blankly at the wall over Matt's shoulder. "I had no idea hybrids were different."

Matt nods understandingly."After you slept with him, did you come straight back to New Orleans?"

Hayley shrugs. "He actually ended up giving me more information about my family than Shane or Katherine."

Matt frowns, not following the mental leap. "What are you talking about?"

Hayley smirks. "After we 'slept' together, he noticed my birthmark and told me that it belongs to this special werewolf clan down here in New Orleans. So I came back here to ask the locals some questions, but I got stonewalled by pretty much everyone. And then I ended up in permanent custody of the witches what with being the incubator to Klaus's bastard child."

"Wait, back up a step. How did you go from asking a couple questions to being in permanent custody?"

Hayley frowns as she tries to remember. "I was out in the bayou, trying to find the roux-ga-roux. And then the witches knocked me out and kidnapped me."

"Hrm. And who sent you out there in the first place?"

"Jane-Anne, she told me where to find the pack and gave me a map."

"Who's Jane-Anne?" Matt cocks his head to the side in curiosity.

"Jane-Anne Deveraux. She was the bartender at that place where I first met Katherine. Course it turns out she was also just another-" Hayley's eyes narrow as she pauses before she finally finishes. "Witch."

"Do you think she purposely set you up to get captured by the other witches?" Matt asks, arching an eyebrow.

"No shit, Sherlock." Hayley's head falls forward as she looks at him condescendingly.

"Tell me more about that." Matt sits up straighter and crosses his arms, bringing one hand up to brace his chin.

"Why should I?" Hayley asks defiantly.

Matt doesn't miss a beat and doesn't react to her attitude. "Because I think there's more going on here than meets the eye. And I think the only way we'll figure it out is if we compare notes." He smiles.

Hayley huffs out a breath and stares at him for a long moment before she finally decides to speak."I remember parking in the middle of the damn swamp somewhere."

Matt remains quiet, listening intently to Hayley's story.

Hayley frowns and bites her lip. "Suddenly the map I had just up and incinerated inside my hands and when I tried to start my car the engine blew. Then there was this high-pitched whistle, like a dog whistle? And then I passed out."

She shakes her head and continues. "Anyway, next thing I knew I woke up in a freaking witch-hut in the middle of the bayou with a dozen witches around me, looking at me like I'm Frankenstein's monster or something."

She lets her head fall back and stares at the ceiling for a moment. "They kept me there for days. I was in and out for most of it, but when I was in?" She rolls her neck to look back down, staring at Matt. "It wasn't fun. You'd be surprised how much magic hurts."

"Did they know you were pregnant at that point?" Matt asks disbelievingly, his hand dropping from his face.

Hayley barks out a raspy laugh. "They were the ones who told me. Sophie, Jane-Anne's sister, said that Jane-Anne did some sort of spell that confirmed I was pregnant. And then the rest of them started badgering me about who all I slept with."

Matt raises an eyebrow and cocks his head. "And what did you tell them?"

"The truth," Hayley says bitingly. "The only one I screwed around with was Klaus."

"So what happened once they believed you?" Matt asks her calmly.

Hayley shrugs. "They dragged me in front of Klaus and threatened to kill me and the baby if he doesn't do what they say."

Matt winces sympathetically. "I imagine that did not go over very well."

Hayley's eyes darken as she stares straight at Matt. "He told them to kill me and walked away."

"But you're still alive," Matt says, leading her into an explanation.

Hayley shrugs again and looks to the floor. "Elijah stayed and struck a deal with them. I guess, he got Klaus to change his mind."

"Alright," Matt says finally and gets up from the chair. "Thank you."

"What?" Hayley snaps out of it and jumps in her chair, pulling at her restraints. "Wait!"

Matt stops, folding the chair shut as he looks at Hayley. "Yes?"

"You said you would share your information. Quid pro quo!"

Matt smiles and nods. "And I will, once we actually find out something that you don't already know."

Hayley snarls and rips at the ropes binding her wrists and legs. "You bastard, you freaking liar!" she screams at the top of her lungs.

Matt stops smiling and leans heavily on the folded chair, pinning Hayley with his gaze. "I am not lying," he barks loud enough to shut up her hysterical screeching.

She sucks in a deep breath through her nose, glaring at him so hard her eyes start to water.

Matt continues in a much calmer voice. "All we know for right now is what you've told us and the fact that Katherine was the one who sent Klaus to New Orleans. But if we find out anything else, I will come down here and share it with you."

Hayley does a double take and blinks rapidly. "You mean it?" she asks disbelievingly.

"I generally mean what I say," Matt responds with a shrug.

He leaves the room and quietly closes the door behind him while Hayley is still staring after him. He places the chair against the wall outside of the impromptu cell and sinks back against the door.

He closes his eyes for a moment, exhaustion clearly written on his features, before he opens them again to look at Caroline and Rebekah across from him. "Did you hear everything?"

Rebekah is leaning casually against the wall, arms crossed and visibly impressed by his interrogation skills. "Every word," she says with a proud smile.

Caroline can't take the time out from her thought process to answer Matt because something is niggling at her and she can't figure it out. She shakes her head and plays with her fingernails as she tries to focus.

Part of her mind is still screaming hysterically about the fact that the girl on the other side of the door is pregnant with Klaus's baby. But most of her is fiercely holding on to the bone-deep knowledge that vampires cannot have children.

Aside from that, Katherine's name seems to come up in connection with this whole mess an awful lot. Katherine was in New Orleans when Hayley came to the city the first time around. Katherine was the one who reeled Hayley in with promises to find her parents in exchange for learning about the cure. And when Katherine wanted her dead, she practically drove Hayley into Klaus's arms. Then Katherine's plan to use the cure as leverage for her freedom didn't work, so she sent Klaus to New Orleans to follow up on some witch conspiracy.

Matt exchanges a worried glance with Rebekah when Caroline still doesn't say a single word.

Rebekah shrugs and twirls one finger next to her temple as she rolls her eyes in Caroline's direction.

"Care?" Matt asks carefully. "Are you alright?"

Caroline ignores Matt's question, holding up a warning finger to shush him as she blinks rapidly in thought.

Katherine did in fact mention Jane-Anne Deveraux by name in her letter. Katherine didn't just send Klaus to New Orleans, she sent him straight into Jane-Anne's arms. And it just so happens that Jane-Anne, and her sister Sophie, were the ring-leaders in capturing Hayley. Not to mention, Katherine is the one who benefits the most from this unnatural pregnancy. For some reason, the witches here don't seem too disturbed, either, that this pregnancy is breaking the basic rules of nature. And if there's one thing Caroline knows about witchcraft it's that breaking the natural order of things is a big no-no. Unless...

And suddenly it all makes perfect sense. All the random puzzle pieces come together to form a single perfect picture. Katherine Pierce.

"That manipulative bitch!" Caroline shouts loudly as she smashes her fist against the stonewall beside her.


	8. Chapter 8

**"Was it worth it?"**

Caroline is filled with ice-cold rage as she storms up the stairs towards her room. The only reason she's still moving at human speed is so she can hear the satisfying loud bang every time her shoes come down hard on the marble.

Rebekah is right on her heels. "Katherine?"

Matt is following the two girls at a slower pace, his face scrunched up in contemplation. "Don't you think that's a little bit of a stretch?"

Caroline whirls around on them at the top of the stairs, grabbing the banister on both sides as she leans dangerously far towards them. "Is it anymore far-fetched than vampires having babies?" She snarls.

"Whoa!" Rebekah rears back and stumbles. Her eyes widen as she starts to fall but almost instantly her back collides with a broad chest.

Matt reflexively grabs Rebekah's shoulders and puts her back upright, rolling his eyes. "Can we talk about this somewhere on stable ground?"

Caroline narrows her eyes at Matt. "There's nothing to 'talk about'," she says as she swings back around and stalks down the hallway. "Katherine is behind all of this. She played Hayley into Klaus's arms, she manipulated him into coming here and, to top it all off, she somehow convinced the witches to break one of nature's cardinal rules and make this baby thing happen!"

Rebekah still follows her doggedly, but she now has a mischievous smirk on her face. "Makes sense to me. So, what are we going to do about it?"

Caroline stops at the threshold to her room and turns around once again. "We? Nothing. Me?" She grabs hold of the door. "I'm going to go tell Klaus all about it."

That should fix his attitude towards coming back to Mystic Falls. After all, he can hardly rip Katherine's throat out from all the way down here when she's back there playing house with the Salvatore brothers while Elena is chained up in the basement.

Caroline smiles coldly as she imagines the look on Katherine's face when Klaus has her by the neck. She shakes herself out of it. "But first, I'm going to get changed." She focuses her gaze on Rebekah. "Be a dear and write down your brother's address for me."

The door slams shut in front of Rebekah's face before she can say anything in response. Rebekah gapes at it for a second before she turns around to look at Matt. "Do you believe it?"

Matt shrugs and huffs out a breath. "Patience never really was her strong suit."

By the time Caroline walks past the yellow arch at the entrance to the French Market the vendors are already closing up shop for the day. She can't help but wish she wasn't on world-saving duty. With a sigh, she makes a mental note to come back here for shopping some other day.

Klaus's lay-low apartment is in one of the side-by-side brick buildings along the street. The house looks abandoned with graffiti and notices spread all over and paint peeling off the dark green front doors. But one of the french doors on the third floor is open just a crack, allowing the cool evening air to rush in.

Caroline grabs the brass entry handle firmly and rests her thumb on the lever. She breathes a sigh of relief when it pushes down easily and the lock yields with a quiet click. The relief is short-lived because the door swings open with a noisy groan, alerting any vampire within a three block radius that somebody just entered the house.

"Klaus, it's me!" she calls up the narrow staircase, hoping he hasn't already disappeared out some backdoor escape.

Caroline grabs a hold of the thin iron handrail and runs up the creaky wooden steps as quickly as she dares. She ignores the ransacked second floor as she swings herself around the guardrail to rush up another flight of stairs. She comes to a squeaky halt at the top step, one hand still on the banister, searching her surroundings in the blink of an eye.

The single open room is just large enough to house all the bare necessities, if you considered an iron-cast, claw-footed tub in the corner a necessity.

Klaus is standing by one of the french doors, his back turned on the view to look at her. "I didn't expect to see you again," he says guardedly.

Caroline sucks in a breath and freezes in place as she stares back at him.

She had every intention of informing him about Katherine's ploy right away. She was going to keep her personal feelings out of this and keep things strictly business. She was going to be reasonable and rational. Because really, what happened between Klaus and Hayley was none of her business and she has no reason to be upset about it. All she has to say is that the pregnancy is just another part of Katherine's grander scheme to get rid of Klaus.

"Was it worth it?" she says quietly instead.

Klaus immediately does a double take and looks at her wide-eyed as he opens his mouth.

"Was it worth it!?" Her fingers clench so hard around the rail that the iron groans in protest as it twists inside her grasp. "You better hope it was, because it cost you dearly."

Klaus takes a couple of steps closer, confusion written all over his features as he holds up both hands in supplication. "Caroline, what are you-"

"Don't even try to play dumb, you freaking slut!" She snarls in fury as she advances, a warning finger pointed towards his chest. "And say goodbye to any remote chance you ever might have had with me!"

Klaus rears back as if he's been slapped, his expression changing quickly from confusion to pain before it twists into rage in the blink of an eye.

"As if there ever was a chance!" he roars, his hands clenching into fists as he steps right into her pointed finger.

"There could have been if you hadn't screwed that bitch in heat!" Caroline shouts into his face, balling her hand into a fist.

"It meant nothing!" Klaus is still leaning forward, trying to force her into retreating against the wall.

Caroline doesn't even think about withdrawing. "It means everything!" She bangs her fist against his chest with as much force as she can before she drops it at her side and leans closer.

"Not until you make up your bloody mind!" He tilts his chin to glare down his nose at her, leaving barely an inch between their faces.

"After this?! You bet I have!" Caroline rises up on her toes, removing that last inch of space.

It's enough to push them over the line.

Klaus grabs her cheeks and kisses her forcefully, thrusting his tongue past her lips to explore her mouth, not caring whether she's willing or not.

Caroline is too stunned to react properly. Her eyes close involuntarily as she leans into the kiss, bunching his shirt with both fists before she regains her senses. She uses her hold on him to push Klaus away with all her strength.

As she gasps for air, staring at him wide-eyed, a million thoughts and emotions chase each other inside her head, trying to form a coherent sentence. What finally tumbles out of her mouth makes little sense but it doesn't matter. It's all just a little too much and she's going to have to shut it down.

"Katherine's behind it all." Caroline's voice is monotonous. "Good luck with that." She looks at Klaus blankly, void of emotion as the tension drains from her body. "We're done."

She turns around slowly, ready to climb back down the stairs and get out of this place. But she doesn't get very far.

Klaus wraps one hand around her wrist in a vice-like grip and swings her back around.

Caroline jerks up her hands to fend him off, but she's not strong enough.

He clamps his fingers around her cheeks once again, forcing her to look directly into his eyes.

The last thing she sees is his pupils contract and then widen so far they drown out the blue of his irises as he desperately utters a single word.

"Forget."

She comes to a squeaky halt at the top of the stairs, just past the iron banister, searching her surroundings in the blink of an eye.

The single room is just large enough to house all the bare necessities, if you considered an iron-cast, claw-footed tub in the corner a necessity.

Klaus is standing by one of the french doors, his back turned on the view to look at her. "Caroline," he says with a small, melancholic smile.

Caroline blinks furiously as she stares back at him. Something is niggling at the back of her mind. It feels like she forgot something important, but she can't put her finger on it.

"Klaus," she says slowly.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" His voice is filled with concern as he steps closer, reaching out for her.

Caroline pulls back reflexively and raises her hand to ward him off, one finger pointed in warning, still trying to remember what she forgot.

Klaus stops his advance, hovering just a few feet away. "Caroline?"

She shakes her head. It's driving her crazy that she can't remember what she forgot. The only thing she remembers clearly is that she needs to warn Klaus. "It's Katherine."

Klaus's demeanor changes instantly, going from concern to cold suspicion. "What about Katherine?"

He ignores Caroline's warning finger and draws closer with a low growl, placing one hand on the banister beside her. "Caroline, tell me."

Caroline looks up and meets his eyes, still preoccupied with trying to grasp her forgotten memory. "She's behind everything. She put the witches up to it."

She wants to be more specific, but she has no idea what on earth the witches could be wielding to force Klaus's hand. "Whatever they have on you, Katherine made it possible."

"Are you sure?" Klaus narrows his eyes in anger as his grip tightens enough to make the iron creak in protest.

"Positive." Caroline says absentmindedly but she only has a millisecond to stare quizzically at the twisted metal before she has to duck out of the way.

"I'm going to kill her!" Klaus lashes out with a furious roar, smashing the banister so hard that it tears and a part of it breaks off in his hand.

Caroline's gaze snaps to his face as she takes an unconscious step back from him. "Good," she says shakily. "That means you're coming back with me, right?"

The look on his face is sinister as he drops the twisted iron rod in his hand with a clang. "I'm afraid I can't," he says coldly as he walks past her.

He picks up the bottle of scotch from his nightstand and pours a generous amount into the single glass next to it.

Caroline stares at his back in disbelief. "Are we back to that again?"

For a moment, she forgets all about what she's trying to remember as she goes after Klaus and grabs his shoulder to turn him around. "What could possibly be so damn important that you can't even come back to Mystic Falls for revenge on Katherine?"

The smile on his face is frightening and his ice-cold expression makes it crystal clear that the monster is in charge of the man right now. "Because first, I have to take revenge against the witches for thinking they could play on my weakness and make me their pawn."

Caroline presses her lips tightly together and starts to blink rapidly as her eyes fill with tears. She doesn't even know why, so she wipes furiously at her eyes before they can fall. "You're really nothing but a selfish bastard."

Klaus's smile twitches as he sways slightly with a shrug. "I never claimed otherwise, sweetheart."

Caroline raises her chin and looks coldly at him. "Nothing I say will change your mind, will it?"

Klaus shakes his head. "Not until I'm done here."

"Fine." She throws her hands up and starts walking backwards. "Forget it."

Caroline Forbes is done begging. She's done wheedling and done convincing. She'll just figure something out on her own. It's not like she ever had a guy to rely on before. They all disappoint her eventually. She's used to having to fix her own problems, and the problems of everyone else around her, without help.

"I don't know what I was thinking," she says to herself as she whirls around and starts stomping down the steps.

"Have fun with your revenge!" She shouts up the staircase when she reaches the second floor.

She swings around the banister and keeps going until she reaches the first floor and slams the door behind her on her way out.

Once she's on the sidewalk, Caroline can't help but turn around to look up at the partially open french door on the third floor. She gets up on her tiptoes and screams at the top of her lungs, secrecy be damned. "And don't expect me to come back and help when you end up with a stake in your back again!"

Caroline is so full of rage she wants to grab the next hapless person she runs into and suck them dry. There is only one thing she can think of that will help her prevent that from happening. Fortunately for her, and everyone in her path, she is less than two blocks away from the nearest bar.


	9. Chapter 9

**"****I'll get straight to the point, love. People have been after me for a thousand years and I'm always one step ahead." **

Klaus drops the dead body of the housemaid carelessly on the ground as he steps over the threshold into the plantation house. "Rebekah!" His enraged yell reverberates off the marble walls. "Do not make me search for you!"

Rebekah rushes down the steps at vampire speed and comes to a halt several feet away from him at the bottom of the staircase. "Niklaus," she says neutrally. "What do you want?"

"We probably don't have much time, so I'll have to keep this short," he says casually before his eyes narrow suspiciously at her appearance.

Her hair is disheveled and her shirt is wrinkled. She looks all out of sorts as if she's been unexpectedly interrupted in the middle of something.

Klaus crosses the distance between them instantly, one hand wrapped tightly around her neck. "Who's here with you?"

Rebekah scrabbles at his hand, trying to free herself. "Nobody," she rasps out forcefully. "Just me."

"Leave her alone!" a male voice shouts from above.

Rebekah's eyes widen in panic as she looks up over Klaus's shoulder.

Klaus smiles triumphantly at his sister. "Here's another one who's prone to compulsive fits of heroic stupidity."

He slowly turns his head to look up towards the top of the stairs. "Matthew Donovan! I'll kill you in just a moment, but first I have something to discuss with my sister."

Klaus turns his attention back to Rebekah with icy calm, ignoring the fact that her nails are digging into his hand. "Come with me."

Rebekah continues to pry at Klaus's fingers, unable to free herself as she is dragged across the foyer into the salon.

Klaus doesn't release her until he has pushed her down into the sofa. He whips out a dagger and presses it against her chest, not quite penetrating the skin.

Rebekah's eyes widen as she looks down at the blade in his hand. "How?"

"Please." Klaus scoffs and barks out a laugh. "Neither you, nor our baby-brother have ever been very good at hiding your possessions from me."

Matt enters the room, immediately notices the dagger and doesn't hesitate to launch himself at Klaus.

Klaus turns around at the last moment and stops the attack one-handed with his fingers wrapped around Matt's neck. "Was I not clear?" Klaus asks slowly.

He tightens his grip on Matt's throat while keeping the dagger poised over Rebekah's heart. His eyes are full of contempt as he looks at Matt. "I meant to kill you later, but since you can't wait-"

"Please, don't!" Rebekah suddenly rises up, nearly impaling herself on the dagger in her haste to stop Klaus from hurting Matt. "I'll do anything."

Klaus pulls back on the dagger, surprise flickering over his face before he looks speculatively between Matt and Rebekah. Finally, he sighs in exasperation and frowns at his little sister. "Really? Again? When will you ever learn from your mistakes, Rebekah?"

Rebekah grabs Klaus's arms with both hands, keeping the dagger poised over her heart and her brother's attention firmly on her. "Please, Nik, I'll do anything you say. Whatever you need."

Matt's eyes are rolling wildly until they land on Rebekah as he pries at Klaus's other arm and claws at the constricting fingers around his windpipe. "Don't-" he wheezes out before his air supply is cut off completely.

Klaus rolls his eyes and holds tight for a long moment before he loosens his grip again. "Fine," he says loudly, raising his voice to be heard over the coughing and gasping. "You're going to help me keep a little secret from Caroline."

Rebekah frowns in confusion. Her gaze flits back and forth between the dagger on her chest and Klaus's hand wrapped around Matt's throat.

"Where's Hayley?" Klaus asks without preamble.

Rebekah's eyes light up in sudden understanding. "Locked in the basement," she replies quickly. "Second door on the left."

"Good. I will take care of her." Klaus smiles coldly as he lowers the dagger and throws Matt into Rebekah's arms. "In the meantime, you can make this one forget all about her, the pregnancy, the whole sordid affair."

Rebekah catches Matt and wraps both arms around his shoulders to hold him back from going after Klaus again.

Klaus pauses at the doorway and turns to look back over his shoulder at them. "And maybe you should erase any little make-out sessions too. I don't want to have to go back and kill him after all."

Rebekah doesn't reply and keeps her arms around Matt until Klaus has completely disappeared.

Once her brother is gone, she bursts into motion, cradling Matt's face and running her hands over his shoulders and chest, frantically checking his injuries. "I am so sorry, Matt."

Matt sits perfectly still for a moment before he grabs her hands to stop them from moving all over. "So, you're really going to do it?" he asks in a low voice as he stares at her intensely.

Rebekah sucks in a shaky breath, looking back at him with wet eyes. "I have no choice," she whispers.

"Yes, you do." Matt keeps a hold of her hands, but his voice is firmer and louder than before. "You could lie to him."

"Shh." Rebekah shushes him hastily, covering his mouth with one hand. "No, I can't. And neither can you." Her eyes are flitting back and forth in fear. "The slightest idea that one of us is lying is all it takes. He will kill you before you can even think about running."

Matt pulls her hand away and squares his shoulders, glaring fiercely. "I'm not afraid of him."

Rebekah forgets herself for a second and rolls her eyes. "Do you know how incredibly stupid that is?"

"I don't care," he says unrelentingly.

"Well, I do." Rebekah insists hotly.

She clasps her fingers behind his neck and presses a fierce kiss to his mouth. She pulls back just as suddenly, staring directly into his eyes as her pupils contract and expand with the activation of her compulsion. "You're going to forget I did that."

Matt's eyes are hard as steel as he looks back at her, but his face goes completely blank. His whole body becomes still as he relaxes into the mind-trick.

Rebekah licks her lips and sniffs, forcing her eyes to stay open. "You won't remember anything that happened after I got back from meeting Elijah this morning. You don't know anything about a pregnant werewolf or that Hayley and Klaus had sex. The last thing you remember about Hayley is that she left Mystic Falls after my brother killed his pack." Rebekah's voice stays firm as the tears start streaming down her face.

She pulls one hand away from Matt's neck to bite her wrist and forces it past his unresponsive lips. "Drink," she says commandingly, but her voice cracks halfway through the word.

The muscle under Matt's right eye twitches, but he starts to swallow and continues to stare unblinkingly at Rebekah.

She watches the bruises on his neck fade to nothing as he ingests her blood before she speaks again. "You won't remember Klaus being here, or that he threatened either of us. You won't remember attacking him, or being choked by him and you won't remember drinking my blood." She removes her wrist from his mouth and rubs her thumb over his lips to wipe up the little bit of blood that he spilled.

Rebekah's brows furrow in deep thought for a moment, breaking eye contact to throw an anxious glance out the door before she looks back at Matt and intensifies her compulsion. "In fact, when we get back to Mystic Falls, once you get home, you will forget all about our little get together at the Grill and you'll completely forget you ever came to New Orleans."

She sucks in a breath and wipes the tears off her face. "You spent the days since prom in blissful ignorance, busing tables and-" She licks her lips then chews them for a moment before she continues. "And worrying about failing your classes. Understood?"

Matt's stare is hard as he looks back at her unflinchingly. "Yes, Rebekah."

She snorts grimly. "And you will dislike me more than ever because this is the second time I've messed with your mind in as many days and there's really no good reason to ever forgive me, except that you won't remember any of that, either, the moment I snap my fingers."

Rebekah snaps her fingers and ends the compulsion.

Matt blinks quickly and rubs his eyes for a long moment before he looks back at Rebekah. "How did we get down here?" he asks suspiciously.

Rebekah blinks and sucks in a breath, looking around searchingly. "You were going to make me a sandwich, remember?"

Klaus enters the basement with a determined scowl on his face. He throws open the second door on the left with more force than strictly necessary.

Hayley looks up from her chair, a frightened expression on her face until she recognizes Klaus. "You came for me," she says hopefully.

Klaus smiles coldly as he walks up to her and easily tears off the ropes around her wrists and ankles.

Hayley sighs in relief as she brings her arms around and gently massages her wrists.

Klaus suddenly grabs her by the throat, nearly crushing her windpipe as he leans down until his mouth is right next to her ear. "Don't delude yourself for a second that I am doing this for you."

He shifts his grip to the back of her neck and hurls her out of the chair before he grabs her and speeds both of them away, leaving nothing but an empty chair and a few lengths of rope on the floor.


	10. Chapter 10

**"****You prefer who you are now to the girl you once were. You like being strong, ageless, fearless. We're the same, Caroline." **

Caroline stares contemplatively at her reflection in the mirror behind the bar. There are a lot of things going on right now and she doesn't have the slightest idea how to deal with any of them.

She narrows her eyes, downs her shot-glass of whiskey and half turns toward the person beside her. "Do you think I should straighten my hair?"

The male vampire closes his mouth, completely distracted from whatever horrible pickup line he probably was about to use on Caroline. "I dunno?" He grins, caught off guard.

"Yeah, neither do I," Caroline says with a big sigh.

She shrugs, gets up and walks away from the other vampire, taking a few steps towards the exit. Frowning, she stops and turns back around towards the bar. "Actually, I-" She snaps her mouth shut.

Something is not right. She wants to stay and have another drink, vampire nuisance be damned. On the other hand, she doesn't want any trouble, so she really rather wants to leave, right now.

"Never mind. I guess, I was just about to head home." She starts to walk backwards, further away from the vampire at the bar.

He looks after her with furrowed brows. "Are you sure?" His mouth curves into a seductive grin as he cocks his chin and glances at her through half-lidded eyes. "The night's still young."

"Positive." Caroline says the word before she can even think of a snappy retort. "But thank you for the generous offer." She blinks rapidly in confusion at the words coming out of her mouth. "Have a wonderful evening."

She decides to shut up and get out before more Stepford-wife drivel can inadvertently spill out of her. Caroline has no idea why she just said all those nice and non-confrontational things. It's certainly smarter than to tick off this vampire, who is probably one of Marcel's lackeys; but it is definitely not in her nature at all.

The only positive thing about it is that the guy doesn't follow her as she leaves the bar and steps into the street.

Caroline sucks in a deep breath and turns her face towards the dark sky. With all the city lights it's impossible to see the stars. She can't wait to be back in Mystic Falls, or at least at the plantation.

Her eyes narrow. "Okay, no more of that strange whiskey for me." She points a finger at herself and shakes her head quickly, her curls bouncing around her face.

It takes almost an hour to get back to the plantation house and when Caroline finally steps across the threshold into the foyer, everything is quiet and dark.

"Hello?" Caroline shouts as she flips on a light switch.

She almost slips on the wet tile when she starts to look around for Matt and Rebekah.

Her irritation grows quickly when she doesn't receive an answer. "Guys? Where are you!?"

Caroline is about to cave and call for the housemaid when she hears footsteps from behind her.

Rebekah walks out of the salon at a leisurely pace. "Sometimes I really wonder how you ever made Miss Mystic Falls when you clearly lack the most basic manners." Rebekah smiles sweetly as she crosses her arms over her chest. "What's with the yelling?"

Caroline narrows her eyes at the comment and purposely bumps Rebekah's shoulder as she strides past her into the salon. "We're done here."

The salon is empty, so Caroline continues, briskly walking through into the dining room. "So we're packing up and going back tonight." The dining room is empty as well. "Where's Matt?"

Rebekah is only a few steps behind Caroline, watching her closely with a worried expression on her face. "Matt's in his room," she says dismissively. "What happened?"

Caroline scoffs and changes direction, heading for the stairs to the upper level of the house. "Your brother is a complete jerk."

Rebekah follows doggedly at her heels. "That's nothing new. So, why are we leaving tonight? Did he finally agree to help?"

Caroline doesn't even pause in her steps as she laughs and glances back over her shoulder. "Hah, of course not."

She climbs the last couple of steps and starts heading down the hallway towards Matt's room. "He's too busy looking out for number one."

She holds up her index finger. "But I'm done playing. And I'm not wasting another minute on your brother. We don't need him." She stops right in front of Matt's door.

Rebekah crosses her arms again and looks at Caroline sceptically. "Wasn't it you who said that we don't stand a chance without him?"

Caroline tosses her hair over her shoulder and confidently raises her chin. "I changed my mind," she says loudly.

At that moment, Matt opens the door and steps out of his room. "Changed your mind about what?" he asks grumpily.

Caroline is unfazed by his sudden appearance. "We're going back to Mystic Falls," she says with finality.

Rebekah rolls her eyes and turns her gaze on Matt. "She hasn't changed her mind," she says sarcastically. "She's lost it."

"I think she's right." Matt leans against the doorjamb, looking down at Rebekah with a cold expression on his face. "Us coming here was pointless so far. We haven't even seen Klaus yet."

Caroline rolls her eyes at the bickering, too preoccupied to really listen. She just wants to pack her things and get on the road. "Oh, I've seen plenty of him. Enough to last a life-time, in fact."

"Never mind that now." Rebekah quickly changes the subject, drawing the attention back to her. "Just, how do you propose we defeat Silas without him?"

Caroline frowns, her eyebrows furrowing briefly in thought before she takes a deep breath and smooths out her expression. "I don't know, but we're not going to figure it out while we're here."

She nods to herself and looks back and forth between Matt and Rebekah. "So, first we have to get back home. And then we'll have to find Bonnie."

Less than twenty minutes later, their bags are packed and ready to be loaded into Rebekah's Porsche.

Rebekah struggles to push her cumbersome suitcase into the trunk, all the while glaring at Caroline. "You know, if I'd known you were going to give up so easily, I would've never come here."

Caroline glares right back and gives the suitcase a shove from the other side. "You know, if I'd known you were going to be no help whatsoever, I would have come here by myself." She heaves up her own large suitcase, starting to fight with its unwieldy dimensions.

Rebekah flashes a sarcastic grin and narrows her eyes. "You would have never found Klaus on your own!" She gives Caroline's suitcase the same uncouth treatment that hers received.

"Well, I didn't have to, did I?" Caroline almost disappears inside the trunk as she shoves her suitcase to the back to make room before she stands back up. "He found me just fine!"

Matt opens his mouth to say something, but he doesn't get the chance to get a word in edgewise.

Rebekah grabs his small duffel-bag from him and tosses it carelessly into the trunk. "Yeah, and a fat lot of good that did!"

"You know what?!" Caroline slams the trunk shut, barely missing Rebekah's hand.

"What?!" Rebekah doesn't even notice as she threateningly steps closer to Caroline.

Matt's voice finally booms over both of them. "Can both of you just stop?"

Caroline doesn't take her eyes off of Rebekah, continuing to stare the older vampire down. She will not blink first.

Rebekah stares back just as hard, her hands balled into fists at her sides.

Matt looks between the girls, exasperation and weariness straining his features. "It's already late, and we're going to be on the road for a long time."

Caroline sucks in a deep breath through her nose and rolls her shoulders in a shrug. "Fine. Forget it."

Rebekah nods and crosses her arms. "No need to ask me twice." Her eyes narrow as a smile crosses her face for a split second. "I'd love nothing more than to forget this whole trip ever happened."

"You?!" Caroline gasps as she throws her head back in outrage. She looks at the dark, star-covered sky and counts slowly to five inside her head before she levels her gaze back at Rebekah.

"Whatever." Caroline puts her hands up and backs away a couple of steps. "Let's just get on the road."

She gives Rebekah a wide berth as she walks towards the front of the car. "And once we get home I will happily pretend I never wasted three whole days of my life on the Mikaelsons."

With one hand on the handle of the driver's side door, Caroline stops and glares back at the other girl. "And with any luck I'll never have to talk to you again."

Rebekah's smile turns into an angry scowl. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Caroline scoffs. "Getting in the car."

"Not on that side, you're not." Rebekah stalks towards her threateningly.

"Oh, yes, I am. Because I'm driving." Caroline says challengingly, opening the door.

"No, I'm driving." Rebekah slams it closed again with one hand on the frame.

"Neither of you is driving." Matt suddenly steps between the two, one heavy hand on each girl's shoulder as he glares down at them.

Rebekah opens her mouth to protest but the grip of Matt's fingers tightens warningly as his eyes pin her down. "Rebekah, get in the back-seat."

Caroline barely resists the urge to stick her tongue out, but then Matt's angry gaze rests squarely on her and she feels like she's seven years old again and got caught stealing her mom's makeup.

Matt squeezes her shoulder, too. "Caroline, passenger seat." He spins her the other way to walk around the front of the car towards the passenger side. "And I don't want to hear another word from either of you until we're back in Mystic Falls."


	11. Chapter 11

A lot of things in the following chapters will look awfully familiar. I've decided to weave things around canon, for now. Not everything that happened on TV is shown, but everything that was shown on TV happened. As always, nothing belongs to me. No fowl, no harm. Enjoy.

!

"**Silas, show me your real face." - "And why would I do that when I can look like whomever I want you to see?" **

Back in Mystic Falls, it only takes Caroline a couple hours of sleep and a few bags of 0-negative to freshen up. She still hasn't heard anything from Bonnie and it's driving her nuts, so she leaves yet another message on her friend's voice-mail before she gets into her car.

She has to start somewhere and straightening out Elena is by comparison the easiest item on the list. Caroline sets her expression to steely resolve and guns the engine.

When she storms into the Salvatore boarding house, she half expects to find Katherine here again, but luckily, the living room is empty. That means Caroline can actually focus on her mission to bring back the old Elena.

"Where is she? I want to see her," she says resolutely, already striding towards the other end of the room.

Stefan is trailing behind her, rambling on about isolation, misery and emotions.

Caroline is not really listening because she is too busy throwing open the french doors to the adjoining room. "She's been here for days. She hasn't improved at all?"

Now she really wishes she hadn't wasted all this time in New Orleans, trying to convince Klaus to help them in their fight against Silas.

Stefan is good at making excuses, she has to give him that, but unfortunately for him, Caroline is done listening to excuses. It doesn't take long to break his resolve.

"Good luck," he says before he leaves the two of them alone in the cellar and closes the door behind him.

Caroline waits until he's gone before she pulls out the small vial of blood she brought with her. "I brought you something. It doesn't have any vervain in it, I swear." She uncorks the small bottle and holds it out. "I just figured a little blood might help you think straight."

Less than ten minutes later, Caroline is back upstairs, pacing the length of the living room, wishing she had laced that blood with vervain. There are very few lines left that Elena hasn't already crossed, and Caroline is losing her patience with the other girl.

Part of her wants to brush off the cruel comments, because Elena is doing it deliberately just to mess with her. But Caroline knows the reason she's so upset is because some of the things Elena said ring uncomfortably true.

She knows that she's a control freak. She's always known. It's what makes her so successful as an organizer and committee leader.

She also remembers very clearly how her mother looked at her when she first found out about Caroline being a vampire. For the most part, Caroline is absolutely positive that Liz Forbes, mom, has gotten over her apprehensions and fully embraces her daughter's new life. But there are times when Sheriff Forbes, council member, looks at Caroline and it makes her feel like her and her friends are just a threat that needs to be dealt with.

Caroline takes a deep breath and rakes her fingers through her hair, mussing it up as she tries to drive the thoughts out of her head.

At least what Elena said about her being clingy and a tease is just Grade A bull-crap. She has never been clingy with Tyler. Would a clingy girl let her boyfriend run off into the wilderness for months on end to get control of his wolf-side? With another girl, no less?

Just the thought of Hayley makes her subconsciously vamp out. "Ugh, I hate that bitch." Caroline kicks the side of the couch just hard enough to hear a satisfying thud.

And a tease? When has she ever been a tease with Klaus? At most, there was that one time when she was supposed to distract Klaus so the others could stake Kol with one of the white oak ash daggers. But that totally doesn't count. And she most definitely does not want her 'feathers ruffled' by the big, bad hybrid, thank you very much.

Caroline flaps her jacket and fans herself on her return trip through the room. It's getting uncomfortably warm inside the stuffy boarding house. She needs some fresh air.

She also needs someone to distract her and there is only one person she can think of who would be able to do that without ticking her off in the process. She takes out her cell-phone and sends Matt a quick text.

Once outside, she takes a deep breath of early spring air. It's less crisp, and much heavier in Virginia than it was in New Orleans.

The cell phone rings in her hand, making her jump. Expecting it to be Matt, Caroline almost shouts with joy when she sees the name on the caller ID. "Bonnie! Where have you been? I've left, like, 90 million messages!"

"Studying French. We still have final exams, remember?" Bonnie's reply is too casual for somebody who has been missing for the better part of a week.

Caroline takes a breath and starts walking. "Ugh, don't remind me. Look, this whole thing with Elena-" She looks back towards the boarding house as she walks past her car in the driveway. "It's about to get brutal and I know that she's not your favorite person right now, but I could really use you over here."

Bonnie is immediately suspicious. "For what, moral support? Or so you can check up on me?"

"Moral support!" Caroline exclaims immediately, but then decides to be a little more straight forward. "And maybe just a tiny check-in to make sure that Silas isn't playing any more pesky little mind games with you."

Bonnie is still too casual. "I'm fine, okay?" She lowers her voice to an urgent murmur. "Silas doesn't control me anymore. And I think I'll pass on the invite. I...Elena tried to kill me. I'm not quite ready to forgive and forget."

Caroline frowns and sighs, trying not to lose her patience as she listens to Bonnie.

Elena tried to kill her too, twice, and yet Caroline is here to support their friend. Sometimes she wonders what's wrong with her.

Bonnie's voice suddenly changes to a hurried tone. "I'm gonna call you later, okay? I gotta go."

Before Caroline can say anything, Bonnie hangs up on her.

Caroline stares at the phone for a moment, unsure what to do next.

Elena screams in agony somewhere on the second floor of the house.

Caroline flinches, brings up the chat menu and sends another quick message to Matt, asking him how soon he'll be here.

When Caroline asked Matt to come over, she never in a million years thought that Rebekah would end up tagging along. Considering that their little excursion to New Orleans ended in complete failure, Caroline can only think of one reason that Rebekah is still trying to act like a goodie-two-shoes in front of Matt, and she doesn't like the idea of the original crushing on her favorite ex-boyfriend one bit.

The fact that Rebekah is now trying to use Matt's problems at school to weasel her way into his life makes Caroline so furious that she fumbles with her keys and they end up dropping from her hand.

She crouches down with a scowl on her face to reach for them, but her hand freezes for a second when she hears a rustling noise in the underbrush nearby. Knowing that Katherine could still be nearby and with Silas roaming around freely, Caroline is immediately suspicious.

She stands up slowly to look for the source of the rustling. "Who's there?"

The hair on the back of her neck stands up and she whirls around to face the threat looming behind her.

Klaus is standing less than a foot away from her. His usually expressive face is carefully blank as he looks at her.

"Oh, my god." Caroline says in a breathy voice.

"Hello, Caroline," he says with a small smile.

For a split-second, Caroline feels the insane urge to throw herself at him and hug him. She can't believe he changed his mind and came back to help. She reins herself in at the last moment and shoves her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

"You're back," she says with a cautious smile, trying to hide her excitement.

Klaus makes a non-committal humming noise in his throat and shrugs casually, slipping his hands into the pockets of his pea-coat.

Caroline can't hide the fact that she's stunned. She can't believe he decided to come back to Mystic Falls. After their last conversation in New Orleans it was pretty obvious that he had no interest in returning until he was through with the witches and whatever they had cooked up against him.

It's even more surprising that he's so very calm. In fact, it's completely out of character for him.

Caroline watches him more closely, studying his blank face and the completely emotionless eyes staring back at her.

Klaus averts his gaze and starts to walk away from her out into the woods. "I thought we should talk," he says casually with his back turned to her.

And just like that Caroline knows she's not talking to Klaus. If she still had a heartbeat, it would have given her away immediately. But thanks to the fact that she's a vampire, she manages to control her breathing and follows him at a sedate pace.

"Everyone said that you were gone for good," she says cautiously as she walks next to the imposter.

He responds easily. "It's true. But I never meant to go without saying goodbye."

Caroline knows that is complete bull-crap, because Klaus never even thought about saying goodbye before he ran off to New Orleans, and he certainly wasn't apologetic for leaving when she confronted him at the plantation.

On the bright side, this might be an opportunity to get away unscathed from the dangerous monster in front of her.

She stops walking and raises her chin confidently. "You don't owe me an explanation."

The fake Klaus stops as well and turns around to look at her, visibly annoyed.

"You're moving on," she says in a matter-of-fact tone, shaking her head. "By all means, go."

"Well, that's just it, isn't it?" His tone is starting to lose some of its eery calm. "I never had any intention of moving on."

Caroline frowns, wondering if the fake Klaus actually let something true slip out accidentally.

He must have realized it too because he continues in a smoother tone. "The truth is, I've tried to stop thinking about you, and I can't."

Caroline is so irritated with the trite line that she forgets who she's dealing with for a moment. She huffs out an annoyed breath and brushes past him with closed eyes.

"Come to New Orleans," he pleads as he turns around to reach after her. "What are you afraid of?" His tone is almost mocking now.

Caroline loses it. "You!" She spins around and throws one arm out, glaring at the fake Klaus. Somewhere inside, she knows she's not just talking about the fake one when she says, "I'm afraid of you."

His impression of Klaus fails completely when he drops the pretense of wooing her. There is no sign of the pain that would be plain to see on the real one's face every time Caroline says something that cuts him deeply.

"Wouldn't it be more accurate to say you're afraid of yourself?" he asks coldly as he steps closer to her. "Your darkest desires?"

Caroline can't move as she watches him draw closer. She remembers what he did to Klaus after the witch massacre. She knows she doesn't stand a chance against him.

"Elena was right, wasn't she?" he asks mockingly as he closes the last couple of steps between them. "Deep down, you long to have your perfect feathers ruffled." He drops his voice to a seductive growl.

As scared as she is, Caroline is sick of the pretense. She can't stand the way this version of Klaus looks at her and his proximity makes her skin crawl in all the wrong ways.

She furrows her brows and looks directly into his passionless eyes, calling the ruse. "How do you know what Elena said to me in that cell?"

Caroline shouts in surprise when she finds herself slammed against a tree, his hands on her chest pinning her against the rough bark. The word déjà vu rushes through her mind before she feels his hand close around her throat.

"Then again, there's so much to be afraid of, isn't there?" He raises his voice even as he leans closer. "Like what I'll do to you if your friend Bonnie doesn't come out of hiding. Where is she?"

"Silas," Caroline gasps his name, trying to quickly come up with a distraction, but she doesn't get the chance.

"Where is she?!" He screams the words directly into her face, losing his temper. "She's not at home, she's not anywhere. Bonnie is playing games with me, and I don't like it."

Caroline gasps when she feels his grip release her throat and painfully tangle in her hair. She shudders in disgust at the feeling of his cold breath on her ear and squeezes her eyes shut, petrified with terror.

Silas lowers his voice to a threatening murmur. "Tell her." He licks his lips, his mouth less than an inch from Caroline's ear. "I'm looking for her. Tell her to come out of the shadows. Tell her that this-"

Caroline screams as a stake shatters her ribcage out of nowhere. Before she can grab the base, its tip penetrates her heart, setting her whole body on fire with mind-numbing agony.

She can't even hear Silas finish his sentence, because all she has time for is a few desperate gasps before the flames consume her from the inside out and she falls to the ground.

In the early hours of the next morning, when everything is said and done, Caroline falls into her bed exhausted.

Her mother is in the other room, sleeping peacefully, still alive. Matt called her on her cell-phone, Rebekah's caustic voice in the background. He's recovering from being Elena's chew-toy. Elena has finally turned her emotional switch back on. Damon and Stefan are taking care of her. Katherine, Silas and Bonnie have disappeared once again. Klaus is still in New Orleans. Tyler is who-knows-where. And Caroline is all alone.

She lets the tears come. There's no reason to be strong when nobody can see her weakness. She turns her face into the pillow to muffle her sobs. Her fingers claw at the fabric and she draws her legs up as close to her chest as she can.

Earlier today, for a moment, just a tiny moment, she forgot. She forgot that he was a selfish, merciless bastard. She had faith in him, believing wholeheartedly that he came through just for her. Even worse was the shattering disappointment she felt when she realized it wasn't really him.

Now, she's in her bed, crying her heart out because she fell victim not just to Silas's mind-games, but to her own naive delusions.

He promised her the world; music, art and culture, great cities and genuine beauty. But in the end, he left her too, just like everyone else did.

All she ha to hold on to are her obligations as Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls, and daughter of one of the prestigious founding families. That and a handful of people whom she calls friends and whom she has to protect from the consequences of their own stupidity more often than not.

It's tiring, and thankless, and so damn lonely that it makes her want to scream.

But Caroline doesn't scream. She sits up in bed and resolutely wipes the tears from her face.

There is too much to do to waste time moping, what with Silas roaming the land and graduation just around the corner. She hasn't even picked a theme for the party yet.

She never cared all that much about Klaus anyway.


	12. Chapter 12

I didn't realize the flubs and inconsistencies in 'The Walking Dead' until I started writing this chapter. One hard lesson of writing: Cut what you love. Just because you want something to happen, doesn't mean it makes sense for it to happen. I apologize for the rambling, but the graduation letters sent the day before graduation, the nonsensical passage of time and the completely wall-banging scene with Caroline, Stefan and Lexi at the Grill has made writing this chapter a real challenge. I hope you still enjoy and as always, thank you so much for all the generous feedback.

!

**"You will open the floodgates for every supernatural being that has ever died."**

The Mystic Grill is packed with the late afternoon crowd when Caroline storms in.

Elena scampers in a few steps behind her but immediately saunters off towards the pool tables.

Caroline is not surprised to find Rebekah hanging out at the bar, chatting with Matt.

Ever since they got back from New Orleans, the other girl has been hanging all over him. The only good thing about that is Matt's swift improvement in class. Caroline is loathe to give the other girl credit for anything, but she has to admit Rebekah Mikaelson is a surprisingly good tutor.

Caroline grits her teeth and puts on a smile as she steps up to the bar and joins the two. "I need a break." She plops her stack of invitations down on the counter and looks pleadingly at Matt. "And a drink. Can I get a drink?"

Matt shakes his head. "Not unless you compel the bartender, and I'd rather you didn't."

Rebekah smirks. "I could do it," she says quickly.

Caroline opens her mouth for a comeback, but she doesn't get the chance.

"That way you don't have to get your hands dirty stealing candy from a baby." Rebekah narrows her eyes with a facetious smile.

Matt rolls his eyes before he looks sharply at Rebekah. "You know better. Same rules apply to you, too."

Rebekah looks genuinely chagrined as her shoulders slump and she averts her gaze.

Caroline doesn't bother to stifle her grin. "Fine, just get me a soda, please?"

"Sure thing," Matt says neutrally and turns away from them to get Caroline's soda.

Caroline notices the two single envelopes on the counter, one with Matt's name on it and one with Rebekah's. "What is it with everyone not sending any graduation cards?"

Caroline is only addressing the last couple batches of 'no-show' letters to people she doesn't expect to see for the ceremony tomorrow. The important people already received their letter weeks ago, and a follow up e-mail and a reminder phone call. There are only a handful who haven't RSVP-d at this point.

Rebekah immediately loses the dopey expression on her face as she whips her head around to turn a thousand watt glare on Caroline.

That's when Caroline remembers that Matt isn't as lucky in the family department as she is. "You know, I always thought they were grossly overrated anyway." She hastily wipes most of her letters off the counter and stuffs them into her large purse. "A waste of time, really, when barely anyone even bothers to show up in the end."

Matt turns back around with her soda in hand, a doubtful expression on his face.

Caroline is desperately trying to think of a good segue to get away from the topic. "And anyway, there are so much more important things to think of, like-" She looks around desperately searching for an out.

"Caroline, stop babbling," Rebekah says sarcastically. "It's-"

"God, I'm thirsty." Caroline grabs the soda glass from Matt and starts drinking in huge gulps. The moment she puts the glass down she can feel the pressure in her chest moving up her throat. She opens her mouth just a little bit and accidentally releases an enormous belch. Her hand flies up to clamp over her mouth too late.

"Unattractive," Rebekah finishes her sentence flatly.

Caroline spends the rest of the afternoon trying to distract Elena and failing miserably. When the storm starts and the power goes out, she is almost relieved to have an excuse to get away from Elena.

The debris flying all over the place immediately replaces the relief with concern. "I'll call my mom," she shouts over the storm to Matt and Rebekah. "Maybe she knows what's going on."

Just as Caroline steps back inside, a police cruiser drives by behind her with its sirens sounding. The noise is dampened when the door bangs shut behind her. Caroline sighs in annoyance as she is plunged into darkness.

"Elena?" she calls out, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dim light coming in through the windows.

"Over here," Elena says from behind the bar, pouring a generous amount of hard liquor into her glass.

"Stay where you are." Caroline points a finger in Elena's general direction as she dials her mom's phone number and brings the phone up to her ear. "Mom? Where are you? The storm is getting bad out there." Her brows furrow as she listens to her mother on the other end of the line.

"What are you doing at the hospital?" Caroline sits down in one of the empty booths. She throws a worried glance towards the bar where she last saw Elena.

Elena is still there, gulping down unhealthy amounts of alcohol and staring morosely back in her direction.

Caroline rolls her eyes before she responds to her mother's question. "I'm at the Grill. The power's out and everybody pretty much scattered."

She nods along. "Yeah, I know it's stupid." She sighs. "No, I won't go outside." She rolls her eyes again. "Yeah, I'll go get some candles."

Caroline gets up and starts to walk towards the storage room in the back. "What? That's impossible." She stops dead in her tracks.

"Bonnie can't do that," Caroline says with conviction as she starts walking again. "It's not even the full moon yet, she doesn't have that kind of power." Her eyes widen and she can't help but look back over her shoulder at Elena.

The brunette is still behind the bar, drinking herself into a stupor.

Caroline breathes a sigh of relief and steps into the storage room, keeping the door open to allow the small amount of light coming in from the windows to penetrate the complete darkness in the store room.

"But why would she drop the veil for Silas?" Caroline says in a harsh whisper. "She said she wasn't going to."

Caroline sighs and looks up, hoping for divine intervention as she listens to her mother. "I promise." She loses her patience. "Mom! I promise I won't go anywhere." She sighs. "Fine, okay. Be careful. I gotta go. Yeah, I love you too. Bye."

The moment she hangs up the phone, the door to the storage room bangs shut behind her.

Everything is pitch black for a moment. Then the ripping sound of someone striking a match is followed by the flare of a candle. The ball of light is just large enough for Caroline to make out the face of the person holding the candle.

"Hayley?" Caroline asks in disbelief as she looks at the female werewolf. "What are you doing here?" Her eyes widen as she notices the other girl's obscenely distended stomach. "What the hell?"

Hayley's sinister chuckle echoes through the room. "I know something you don't know," she says in a teasing sing-song tone.

Caroline takes an instinctive step back as she realizes who is in the storage room with her. "Silas!"

"Hmm." Silas acknowledges the truth with a smile. He strokes his free hand over Hayley's huge baby-belly in mockery of a loving gesture.

"Why her?" Caroline asks as she shakes her head and grimaces in disgust. "Why this farce?" She chuckles uncomfortably. "Do you really think this-" She points at Hayley's stomach. "-will make me believe she slept with Tyler?"

Silas laughs coldly. "Oh, it's not about what I want you to believe." He takes his hand off Hayley's stomach. "It's about what you already know, deep inside." He reaches out towards Caroline's temple. "That's where I am right now. So deep, I can see everything, even the things that you forgot." As he takes another step forward, his appearance shifts from the image of Hayley to that of Klaus.

Caroline flinches and stumbles back in disgust, backing herself into a wall. "What are you talking about?"

Silas merely chuckles and places the candle on a shelf beside him. "If you want to find out," he says in the smooth tones of Klaus's accent, "You will have to cut the knowledge out of your own skin." He suddenly grabs Caroline's wrist and shoves a small scroll of paper forcefully against it.

Caroline screams in agony as she watches the scroll break through her skin and push past the sinew and muscle between the fragile bones of her wrist. Tears stream down her face as she watches her skin heal over with the scroll trapped inside.

Silas chuckles again as he picks up a filet knife and places it in her hand.

Caroline's eyes flick back and forth between her wrist and the knife in her other hand before she looks up in shock and fear.

The face looking back at Caroline is her own. Silas has taken her form and curls his lips in cruel mockery of Caroline's sympathetic smile. "You'll have to keep cutting for a while."

Caroline sinks to the floor, her mind spinning. If something is wrong with Klaus, if there's something she should know about Hayley, if there really is something important that she forgot then she has to remember, whatever it takes.

She brings the blade to her wrist and starts to cut, stifling her scream of pain.

Silas turns around and grabs a box full of candles from a shelf. He also takes a couple of flashlights and adds them to the box. Finally, he licks his index finger and thumb and extends his hand towards the single burning candle on the shelf.

"Don't worry, no one will disturb you," he says calmly as he extinguishes the flame.

Caroline listens to the sound of his footsteps disappear and the door open and close, but she can't pay attention to that. She needs to get the message out of her wrist to find out what Silas was talking about.

She has no idea if it's minutes or hours later when the door to the storage room opens again.

Rebekah comes around the corner with a first aid kit in one hand and a flashlight in the other. "Caroline, how are you still here?"

Caroline doesn't even flinch at the light shining in her face. She is too focused on her task. "I have to keep cutting."

"Oh my god." Rebekah's eyes go wide as she notices the blood dripping down from Caroline's wrist.

Caroline calmly goes back to cutting. She needs to find out the truth that Silas buried under her skin.

"Caroline, stop!" Rebekah jolts into action. She shifts the flashlight to the hand holding the first aid kit and reaches for Caroline's arm with the other.

Caroline doesn't protest or fight as she is pulled to her feet. She just shifts her grip so she can keep cutting her wrist and get at the scroll she knows is in there.

"No, Caroline!" Rebekah yanks at Caroline's arm to keep her knife hand away from her bleeding wrist. "Matt! Help me!" she shouts towards the main restaurant.

Matt is next to her in a matter of seconds. "What happened?" When he sees Caroline, his eyes widen in shock. "Caroline! I thought she went with-"

Rebekah cuts him off. "Silas must have got to her. Here, take this." She hands him the flashlight and the first aid kit. As soon as her hands are free, she ruthlessly pulls Caroline's hands apart and drags the catatonic blonde towards the bar.

Caroline wants to put up a fight, but she is afraid she might tear off her arms and then she won't be able to cut out the scroll inside her wrist. Unless, she uses her teeth to gnaw it out.

Rebekah puts Caroline down on one of the bar stools and sits down facing her. "Caroline, listen to me."

Matt watches the two with a mixture of fear and worry on his face. "We have to warn the others," he says urgently, then his eyes widen when he looks at his cell-phone. "Out of battery."

Rebekah rolls her eyes. "In my purse. Look for 'slimy toad' in the address book."

Matt raises his brows as his mouth twitches in confusion.

"Don't ask," Rebekah says shortly. "Do what you have to do, I've got this." She turns her attention back to Caroline.

Matt shrugs and goes for Rebekah's purse. He looks at it with a healthy respect before he reaches his hand in. He comes out with the cell-phone on his first attempt and breathes a sigh of relief as he walks away from the bar. He finds the slimy toad entry and hits the connect button.

Damon answers the phone. "Hello, princess."

Matt's eyes narrow and he looks at Rebekah with a frown.

Rebekah doesn't even notice. "Caroline, hey, snap out of it." She grabs Caroline's head in both hands, forcing the other girl to meet her eyes, trying to compel her.

Caroline feels trapped. Something is holding her back, but she needs to find the truth. "I need to bleed. Silas wants me to bleed." That's why the bastard shoved the truth under her skin where she has to cut it out to get at it.

Rebekah shakes her head. "Stop it, you're hallucinating!" Rebekah follows Caroline's gaze.

Caroline uses the chance to lurch forward and makes a grab for the silverware on the bar. "Just let me do this. I need to do this!" She has to find out the truth about Hayley and Klaus and what it has to do with her.

"You're going to cut your hands off!" Rebekah stops Caroline before she can grab the tools and forces her back into her seat.

Matt watches them both with growing concern. He hurries up his explanation. "She's been here this whole time - that means Silas is with you." He pauses only for a second. "Yeah, it gets worse. The veil's down. Kol came by looking for Elena, and he seemed a little pissed." He switches his hand on the phone, flinching as the move jars his injured shoulder. "We'll handle this, just watch your back."

When Matt hangs up the phone, he has to wipe the sweat from his face as he sways on his feet.

Rebekah is still struggling to keep Caroline away from any sharp objects within reach.

Caroline starts to put up a fight, determined to get the truth out from under her skin, one way or another. "Let go of me!"

Matt rushes over to them. "Have you tried compelling her?"

Rebekah looks over Caroline's shoulder at Matt. "I can't, she's on vervain."

Caroline writhes like an eel. "Let me go!

Rebekah shifts her grip to hold Caroline with one arm, so she can pick up one of the graduation envelopes on the bar. "Look, Caroline, you're graduating and - and Uncle Bob and Aunt Mary really want you to graduate with both your hands!"

Caroline throws her hair back and looks at Rebekah pleadingly. "I need to keep cutting, I need to keep cutting, I need to keep cutting."

Rebekah loses her patience and yanks at Caroline's hands, pulling the hallucinating blonde out of her seat. "Stop!"

"I-" Caroline's whole body twists with the resounding slap that sets her face on fire.

Matt stares incredulously at Rebekah before his gaze moves to Caroline.

Rebekah grits her teeth as she waits for Caroline's reaction.

Caroline sucks in gasping breaths, cradling her face as she rights herself.

Everything comes rushing back to Caroline as she realizes what happened. Like an idiot, she spent hours cutting herself to find out some sordid little secret that Silas probably made up to begin with. And to make things worse, the person who brought her back out of it was Rebekah Mikaelson.

Caroline drops her hands from her face and let's the other blonde see the full force of her annoyance. "Bitch!"

Rebekah sighs as her shoulders sag with relief. "There is the Caroline I know and loathe."

Matt tilts his chin to hide the inappropriate smile on his face.

The relief only lasts for a moment before Caroline's eyes widen in panic. "The others! We have to warn them. Silas took my shape."

Matt places his hand on her shoulder soothingly. "They already know. I called Damon."

"Then we have to go, we have to help them." Caroline starts towards the door, but a well manicured hand around her wrist stops her.

"No, we don't," Rebekah says firmly. "There is nothing we can do to help them. And Matt's already injured."

Caroline is immediately distracted and whips around to face Matt. "What? Why? What happened?"

Matt shakes his head and brings up his hands. "It's nothing, really."

Rebekah snorts. "It's not nothing." She looks at Caroline. "Kol came back from the dead and stabbed him with a broken bottle."

"Oh my god!" Caroline's eyes widen as she makes a grab for Matt. "Let me see. How bad is it? Do you need blood?"

Matt rolls his eyes as he fends of Caroline's hands. "No, Caroline. I don't need blood." He sighs and goes to find the first aid kit that he dropped on the floor in his haste to get to Rebekah's phone. "I just need some gauze and a few days without anyone trying to maim me."

Caroline laughs despite the seriousness of the situation. "Fine, no blood. We'll just fix you up the old-fashioned way." She takes the first aid kit from Matt and points at the nearest bar stool. "Sit."

Rebekah rolls her eyes and snatches the kit out of Caroline's hand. "You know I would have already done that if you hadn't decided to turn into a self-harming fruitcake."

Caroline turns on Rebekah with a withering glare, trying to get the kit back. "I hardly had a choice in the matter."

Matt braces his good arm on the bar and buries his face in his hand. "Girls."

By the time they are finally finished fixing up Matt, Caroline's cell-phone rings and it's Damon, letting them know that Silas is taken care of.

Caroline decides to end her day with two last good deeds. She turns Stefan over to Lexi's capable hands and leaves the Grill alone, allowing Matt and Rebekah to continue their flirting until closing time.

As far as she's concerned she has about eight hours to get some good sleep in and then get ready to face Graduation Day head on.


	13. Chapter 13

This chapter turned out completely different from what I expected it to be when I wrote Chapter 10 and hadn't seen the Season 4 Finale yet. Everything that happened in 'Graduation' did still happen in this timeline, it's just that most of it ended up going unmentioned in this chapter. Since the story is told from Caroline's perspective - and she's not even aware of most of the things that happened while she was organizing the official Graduation event - there was really only one logical place to take this chapter once Caroline walked off screen with Klaus. I hope you enjoy and, thank you, as always for the feedback, follows and favorites.

Oh, and Kudos to anyone who can spot the quote from the Paley Media Center interview back in October 2012.

!

**"****Graduation is the most important event of our lives, the last ceremony of our youth. It is our rite of freaking passage! Hell will freeze over before I let anyone cancel graduation." **

All in all, Graduation could have been a lot worse. Things actually went smoother than Caroline had expected, despite the fact that Sarah Beasley threw up all over her robe before her valedictorian speech and Matty Freeman's mother almost accidentally flashed everyone her boobs while giving a standing ovation. And, of course, the two dozen not-so-dead witches and hybrids who came back to ruin everything.

Caroline turns to look at Klaus, shaking her head in awe as they slowly rock back and forth on her mother's porch swing. "Did you really have to wait until the last possible minute?"

Klaus grins impishly as he raises the bottle of champagne they nicked from the PTA buffet at the ceremony. "Technically, I was perfectly on time." He takes a swig then offers her the bottle. "I came here for your graduation, luv. Saving everyone's sorry arses was just a fringe benefit."

Caroline grabs the bottle from his hand and takes a few deep gulps before she stops to take a breath. "You're despicable," she says, but there's no real fire behind the insult and she can't hide her smile.

"You can call me anything you want, sweetheart. As long as you keep that star-struck expression on your face." Klaus leans closer and raises his brows suggestively.

"Yeah, right. Dream on." Caroline rolls her eyes and shoves him away, but the gesture is more playful than aggressive.

Her expression turns somber for a moment when she remembers how they parted ways the last time they saw each other. "So, did you get your revenge on the witches yet?"

Klaus shifts uncomfortably and averts his gaze, staring out at nothing in particular. "Not yet," he says quietly. He takes a deep breath and straightens his spine then looks back at her. "Caroline, I-"

"You know what? I don't want to know," Caroline says decisively before he can finish his sentence.

Klaus furrows his brows in confusion but he doesn't say anything.

Caroline takes a deep breath and clenches her fingers around the bottle in her lap. "It's over. Silas is gone. The veil is back up." She toasts to no one in particular and takes another sip. "For the first time in years I don't have to worry about anything supernatural."

Klaus slowly stops their swinging motion and turns towards her, resting one arm on the backrest of the swing as he watches her.

Caroline chuckles quietly, then turns to Klaus with a happy smile on her face. "I can be a normal girl, go off to college, do stupid things." She raises the bottle again, spilling some of the champagne in her excitement. "I can live my life without having to constantly look over my shoulder!" She laughs again, shaking the liquid off her hand as she looks at Klaus with bright eyes. "Let me have that, okay?" She offers him the bottle with a smile. "Just for a little while?"

Klaus wipes away his guilty expression with a charming grin as he grabs the bottle from her hand and raises it in another toast. "Anything for you, luv." He upends the bottle, easily swallowing half of what's left in a few deep gulps.

"Hey, hey, hey." Caroline grabs the bottle and tries to drag it away, spilling more alcohol in the process. "Sharing is caring you selfish hog!"

Klaus stares at her dumbstruck, champagne dripping from his chin and all over his silk shirt.

Caroline busts out laughing. "Your face!" she says incoherently as she curls up in a fit of giggles.

Klaus snaps out of his stupor and narrows his eyes. "Oh, you think that's funny?" He snatches the bottle from Caroline's unresisting hand and starts to lift it threateningly in her direction.

Caroline notices too late. "Oh, no. You wouldn't-" She gasps and puffs, her arms freezing up in front of her as a small stream of cold champagne trickles over her head and down her dress.

Klaus is chortling with glee, watching her unabashedly with the empty bottle still in his hand. "Drowned rat is not the most flattering look on you," he comments with a grin.

Caroline forgets all reason and hurls herself at the original hybrid with a battle cry. She pushes him back on the swing and lands squarely on top of him, her fingers curled around his neck.

Her mother's firm voice echoes loudly in the quiet. "Caroline? Is that you? Are you alright?"

Caroline freezes with her hands still around Klaus's throat. Her eyes widen in panic as she becomes keenly aware of the fact that she is lying on top of a man who is not her boyfriend.

"Caroline?" Her mother is about three steps away from seeing them over the side of the swing set.

Klaus is completely unconcerned, looking up at Caroline with a mocking smile. He has one arm wrapped loosely around her waist as his other hand pats at the stiff wrist connected to one of her throttling hands.

"It's nothing, mom!" Caroline pops up, shifting herself into an upright position in Klaus's lap as she presses one hand over his mouth. "Just a spider!" She lets her gaze flit down for a second before she looks back at her mom with a hopefully convincing smile. "A big, ugly-" Caroline shudders at the sensation of a wet tongue flicking over her palm. "-nasty, hairy spider."

"Uh-huh." Liz Forbes pauses her steps and furrows her brows skeptically as her eyes roam over her daughter's appearance. "Then you better be careful," she says slowly before she shakes her head and lifts her chin. "You've got five minutes to finish your spider business."

Caroline's shoulders sag in relief when the front door closes behind her mother. "That was close," she says in a breathy voice as she wipes her hand on Klaus's shirt.

Klaus chuckles and folds his hands behind his head, perfectly comfortable in his position. "Was it? And just what was there to be so nervous about?"

Caroline narrows her eyes in an annoyed glare, poking him in the chest. "Are you serious? What was I supposed to do? Formally introduce you to my mother?"

Klaus shrugs and the smirk on his face doesn't diminish one bit. "Why not?"

"Yeah, that would have gone over so well." Caroline rolls her eyes and huffs out a breath before she continues in a sarcastic prattle, "Mom, I met this great guy, he likes to murder people sometimes, but other than that he's a real charmer!"

Klaus's expression closes off and his whole body goes rigid underneath her. "Like her charming daughter who killed a dozen witches?"

Caroline sucks in a breath and lifts her face to the sky before she looks back down at him sharply. "Exactly," she finally says calmly. "There are just some things that moms do not need to know. Ever."

Klaus looks at her quietly for a long moment before his body finally relaxes. "I think we can agree on that," he says quietly.

The next moment, he grabs her hips and starts to sit up with Caroline still in his lap.

Caroline's breathing stalls when the move brings them face to face with only a couple of inches between them. She's perfectly frozen again and unable to move.

Klaus smiles hesitantly as he moves one hand ever so slowly to reach for her face.

Caroline pulls back hastily and tucks the wet strand of hair behind her ear before Klaus can reach it. "I think," she says shakily then swallows. "I think our five minutes are up." She quickly climbs out of his lap, wobbling on her feet for a moment before she regains her balance.

Klaus looks after her with an indulgent smile on his face. "I'm sure it's only been two," he says as he beckons her teasingly. "Come back here, Caroline."

Caroline sways towards the swing for a moment before she catches herself. "No!" Her hand lashes out with a warning finger pointed in his direction as she puts two more steps between them. "No, I really have to go before my mom comes back out here and finds you."

Klaus rolls his eyes and gets up from the swing as well. "Very well," he says with a sigh. In the blink of an eye he has closed the distance between them. "Do I at least get a kiss-goodnight?"

Caroline's finger is still pointed in warning, poking into the middle of his chest. She looks up and their lips are less than an inch apart. Her brows furrow as something tugs at the back of her mind, like a memory she can't quite place. Her mouth starts to form a question.

Klaus's eyes widen before his expression becomes perfectly blank as he takes a quick step back. "I apologize," he says hurriedly. "I got a little carried away."

Caroline's confusion only gets worse at the strange reaction, but it gives her a chance to distance herself from the whole situation. "Apology accepted," she says easily.

She doesn't wait for a response before she steps around him and walks the couple of feet to the front door. She does pause with one hand on the door handle to look back at him. "Have a safe trip home, Klaus."

He looks at her quietly, a myriad of emotions chasing each other across his expressive face.

Caroline can't help but smile at that. No matter what, she knows she will always be the center of his attention when they are together. "And thank you for everything you did today."

She turns around before things can get too intense again and hurries to get inside the house, quickly closing the door behind her.


	14. Chapter 14

From here things get...way away from canon, but I'll try my best to keep it show-like if you know what I mean. I have a plan...kind of. Plans are subject to change, though. As always, thank you for all the kind feedback and I hope you enjoy :-) Also, as always: No fowl, no harm.

!

**"Would you believe I'm having a bad day?"**

Hayley screams as she doubles over in agonizing pain, clutching her stomach. She's curled up on a camping cot in the corner of an empty crypt. Her whole body is drenched in sweat and her matted hair sticks to her face, making her look like a crazed drug-addict in the throes of withdrawal.

The scream echoes loudly off the walls of the tomb, causing the other occupants of the crypt to wince.

Elijah whirls around on the five witches huddled in a group around a small fire. "Do something!" He motions agitatedly towards Hayley, who is still curled up in pain.

Sophie Deveraux, the ring leader of the witch-resistance looks up from the middle of the group and shakes her head. "Not until he does as he is told," she says ominously, pointing towards Klaus.

Klaus stops his pacing near the entrance of the crypt and sucks in a deep breath as he glares at Sophie then deliberately focuses his attention on Elijah. "Tell me again why I should care, brother?"

Elijah's face clearly shows his dismay with Klaus's apathy. "It is your child, Niklaus. The mother of your child is suffering."

Klaus loses the tenuous hold on his self-control. "She means nothing to me!" He makes a throw-away gesture towards Hayley.

Elijah raises a brow and steps closer to Klaus. "And what of the heir to your once and future kingdom?"

Klaus sucks in another breath, opening his mouth before he clenches it shut. His whole body stiffens before he breaks away with an incoherent noise of frustration, throwing his hands up as he storms out of the crypt.

He shields his eyes against the early morning sun as he stalks down the sandy path between gravestones and crypts. When he reaches the large iron gates at the entrance to Lafayette Cemetery, he leans against one of the sturdy cement pillars flanking them and pulls out his cell-phone, quickly presses a few keys and brings the phone to his ear.

The cheery tone of Caroline's voice comes through the speakers. "Hey, this is Caroline, I'm sorry I can't come to the phone right now, but if you leave a message I promise I'll get back to you. Bye"

"Caroline," Klaus says hesitantly. "I promised myself I wouldn't call. Especially, after you asked me so sweetly for some time away from all the supernatural murk that tends to surround us."

He pauses, looking up across the cemetery in the direction of the crypt where he left Hayley and Elijah.

"But I really just needed to hear your voice, sweetheart. There are things going on down here that have put me a little on edge and I never even got to explain to you what happened. I thought I'd have it all resolved by now, but it looks like it's going to take a while."

He pauses again, his brows furrowed in a deep frown. "I'm sorry, I'm not making any sense, am I? Forgive me, luv. It's just been one of those days."

Klaus ends the call and shoves the phone back into his pocket before he straightens up and raises his chin, striding back towards the crypt with his head held high.

**The sun beats down onto Mexico City** from a cloudless sky, roasting tourists and locals alike in the busy streets of the bustling city center.

Matt wipes the sweat from his brow and holds up his cell phone to take a snapshot of Rebekah in front of the National Palace.

"You should lose the hat," he says with a smile as he walks up and shows her the picture. "It's just too much."

Rebekah grins at him, tilting her head back to meet his gaze from under the enormously wide rim of the floppy summer hat she's wearing. "You think so?" she asks with a giggle. "I think you might be right."

She looks around them until she spots what she is looking for. "Ah, hold on." She dashes towards a local girl not too far away and addresses her in flawless Spanish.

The girl is in her early twenties and wears a stylish outfit that will compliment the outlandish hat. She takes the hat with a laugh and a nod, thanking Rebekah before she goes on her merry way.

Rebekah jogs back to Matt and pulls a pair of sunglasses from her small purse, setting them on her nose. "There is that better?"

"Much better." Matt lays an arm around Rebekah's shoulder as they continue to stroll across the large plaza.

They are just passing an impromptu show of Aztec dancers in traditional costumes with large feather head-dresses when Rebekah's cell phone starts to vibrate inside her purse.

Rebekah stops to pull it out and looks at the caller ID on display. "It's my brother," she says with a frown.

"Klaus?" Matt's brows fly up in surprise as he takes an automatic step backwards.

Rebekah shakes her head with a confused expression on her face as she pushes the accept button and brings the phone to her ear. "Elijah?"

**The last light of the day** is still filtering in through the french doors when Klaus returns to his hide-away apartment across from the French Market.

As he takes the last couple of steps up the narrow wooden stairs, he comes to an abrupt halt just past the broken part of the iron handrail at the top.

Caroline is standing by one of the french doors, turning her back on the view to look at him. "So, what exactly is it that you were going to explain?"

Klaus is at a lack for words, standing frozen for another moment before he jolts into motion. "That's one hell of a conversation starter, luv." He heads straight for the bottle of alcohol and the single glass on the night stand.

He fills the glass, gulps down the contents and refills it before he looks at Caroline. "I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Can I offer you a drink?" He holds out the glass towards her.

Caroline snorts and rolls her eyes, but takes the glass from him anyway. "I didn't burn through thousands of bonus miles last minute for a shot of booze." She knocks back the alcohol and hands the glass back to him. "You said it was something supernatural."

Klaus refills the glass slowly, avoiding direct eye contact as he remains quiet.

She watches him carefully as she speaks. "And you said it has you on edge." Her eyes move over his face and body. "Anything that can set a thousand year old immortal hybrid on edge has to be really bad. So what is it?"

Klaus looks up at her for a split second, then abruptly moves around her towards the other side of the small area between the bed, the bathtub and the banister.

"Oh, my god," Caroline says slowly as she narrows her eyes. "What did you do?"

His chin jerks up as he meets her gaze directly, his eyes wide in surprise. "Who says I did anything?"

Caroline scoffs. "You have 'guilt' written all over your face. Now, what did you do?" She stresses each single word as she starts to close the distance between them.

Klaus inhales deeply and releases the breath in an explosive sigh. His expression is somber when he motions towards the bed. "You might want to sit down for this."

Caroline crosses her arms in front of her chest and raises her chin, not moving an inch from where she stands.

"Suit yourself," Klaus mutters under his breath.

He takes a sip of his drink and looks at her challengingly. "I screwed Hayley."


	15. Chapter 15

**"I made a choice that I will regret for the rest of my life. Now let me try to fix it." **

The fire has burnt down to glowing embers inside the crypt at Lafayette Cemetery and most of the witches are gone.

Sophie Deveraux has a look of deep concern on her face, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, as she looks down at the pregnant werewolf asleep in the corner.

Hayley is still lying on the thin cot, a sliver of her growing belly exposed under her t-shirt as she tosses and turns fitfully in her sleep.

Elijah steps up next to Sophie, looking down at the sleeping girl with a matching expression of concern on his face. "She's getting worse by the minute." He turns his head to look at Sophie. "You're still not going to help her?"

Sophie shrugs dismissively, but her eyes stay glued to Hayley's sweat drenched body. "As long as your brother insists on going his own way, c'est lui."

**On the other side of the French Quarter** the street along the French Market is so quiet that the voices inside the apartment above easily carry out into the dark.

"You compelled me?" Caroline stares at Klaus unblinkingly with a cold expression on her face.

Klaus avoids her gaze, the fingers of his free hand curled into a fist as he holds on to the empty glass with the other. "I'm-"

"I don't want to hear it." Caroline cuts him off with a jerky hand motion. "Give it back." She takes a few steps closer until she is right in front of him. "Give me back everything that you made me forget." Her eyes flit back and forth as she glares at him harshly.

"I can't," Klaus says quietly, not backing away from her. "You're regularly taking vervain these days, remember?"

Caroline rears back in shock. "So that was because of you?" She spins around and goes for the bottle on the nightstand. She picks it up with an aggressive swiping motion and gulps down several big swigs before she speaks again. "What else?" she asks quietly. "What else did you do to me?!" she asks louder.

Klaus flinches at her tone. His eyes tear up as he looks back at Caroline remorsefully.

**Back in the crypt**, Sophie throws another log on the fire and stokes it with an iron poker, turning her back on the scene behind her.

Elijah is crouched at Hayley's side, stroking her sweat-soaked hair from her face as he watches her. His expression is grim with concern as he mutters consoling words in a soothing tone.

Sophie whirls around and throws her hands up. "I doubt she can hear you. She's probably lost in her own head, trying to escape the pain."

Elijah's expression grows cold as he turns his head to look up at Sophie. "Pain she would not have to suffer if you decided to show a little more flexibility in your plans."

"Her comfort isn't our concern." Sophie pulls herself up taller, but her eyes shift away from Elijah. Her blank expression falters as she looks at Hayley. "She'll just have to deal with it."

Elijah's eyes narrow as he scrutinizes Sophie silently for a long moment. "You lying wench." He bursts into vampire speed and reappears right in front of Sophie, one hand wrapped around her throat.

Sophie doesn't get the chance to scream before the brutal grip cuts off her air. Her eyes widen in panic when she realizes she can't make a sound or take a breath. She pries futilely at the constricting fingers, struggling to loosen their hold.

"The truth is even if you wanted to, you wouldn't know how to help her." Elijah's expression is ruthless as he easily lifts Sophie by her throat, raising her several inches above the floor.

**In Klaus's apartment**, Caroline paces agitatedly from bathtub to banister and back again, her arms crossed tightly in front of her chest. She stops mid-step, looks up at Klaus and shakes her head. "That's impossible."

"I know," Klaus says with a sigh. "But I heard the heart beat."

Caroline continues to pace, still shakes her head again until she stops once more to look at Klaus. "And Katherine was behind it all?"

Klaus nods. "You made a pretty convincing argument. It was rather like watching a re-enactment of 'Murder, She Wrote'."

Caroline frowns. "Murder, what?"

"Never mind." Klaus shakes his head and waves his hand in a dismissive gesture. "The point is that Katherine has finally got her wish. I am too preoccupied to devote any time to hunting her."

Caroline's eyes widen as her jaw drops and her arms fall akimbo. "Is that the real reason you let Tyler come back?" Her hands ball into fists at her side as she glares at Klaus with contempt.

"Oh, please." Klaus scoffs dismissively. "Don't flatter the pup by assuming he's in the same league as Katerina Petrova." Klaus's face grows serious as his eyes meet Caroline's in a hard stare. "If I really wanted him dead, I could order it now and have his head delivered to me before breakfast," he states as a matter of fact.

Caroline's lip starts to tremble as she stares back at Klaus.

The ringing of Klaus's cell-phone interrupts the deafening silence between them.

Klaus picks up the phone without taking his eyes off of Caroline. "This had better be important."

Elijah's voice comes through the speaker. "She's getting worse."

Klaus closes his eyes for a moment and expels a shaky breath. "I am going to hang up on you now."

**Inside the crypt**, Elijah's fingers tighten around his cell phone. "The witches lied to us about being able to control Hayley," he says hurriedly. "I got one of them to talk." He looks down at the huddled form of Sophie with a disgusted sneer.

Sophie is curled up into a tiny ball on the floor. Her whole body shivers as tears stream down her face. She doesn't meet Elijah's eyes but stares in his direction with an expression of fear and loathing.

Elijah looks from Sophie on the floor to Hayley on her cot in the corner. "She says there's someone in the bayou who might know how to help."

Hayley is shivering worse than before, muttering deliriously as she tosses and turns in her sleep.

Elijah's brows furrow in concern. "I'm taking Hayley there now. I'll text you the location, do with it as you wish." He ends the call and stows the phone before he stalks over to Hayley. With one arm under Hayley's shoulders and the other under her knees he easily hoists her up against his chest. His face is grim as he turns around and carries her towards the exit.

Sophie skitters out of his path, still cowered on the floor, anxiously watching their departure.

**Back in the apartment**, Klaus hangs up the phone and looks disbelievingly at Caroline. "You'll have to excuse me, but I have to go and save my brother from his own misguided chivalry." He sets into motion, swinging around the banister to jog down the stairs.

Caroline blinks rapidly for a moment before she shakes her head and follows Klaus down the stairs.

Klaus stops abruptly at the second floor landing, whirling around to grab Caroline by the shoulders. "Where do you think you're going?"

Caroline brushes off his hands and crosses her arms defiantly. "Wherever you're going."

He furrows his brows, his jaw dropping slightly in confusion. "Why?"

Caroline arches her brows and tilts her head. "I still owe you for graduation," she says seriously. Then her lips twitch with a sarcastic smile. "Oh, and I happen to be prone to compulsive fits of heroic stupidity. " She pats his shoulder as she steps past him and continues down the rickety staircase to the ground level.

Klaus looks after her with a dumbstruck expression for a moment, before he sets into motion and follows her down the steps.

At the exit, Caroline whirls around and points a finger sharply at his chest. "But don't think for a second that this means our discussion is over, or that you're forgiven for what you did. Got it?"

Klaus looks down at the finger on his chest, then up at Caroline's determined expression and nods curtly. "Got it."


	16. Chapter 16

**"You wanna know what the witches have in store for you?" **

The international airport in Mexico City is noisy and crowded with people saying 'hello' and 'goodbye' in different languages all over the place. The lines in front of the ticket counters are moving quickly and there are only a handful of people in front of Matt and Rebekah.

Rebekah turns around on her heel to look back at Matt. "Have I mentioned I'm really sorry about this?"

Matt rolls his eyes. "Four times since we left the hotel." He makes a hand motion for Rebekah to turn back around.

She presses her lips together and turns to face forward again as they proceed in line. Her resolve lasts only a few seconds before she whirls back around. "You're sure you're not mad at me? I mean, I promised we were going to see the Grand Canyon before I send you back home and-"

"I'm not mad." Matt huffs out an exasperated breath and looks to the ceiling. "Look," he says as he puts his hands on her shoulders. "We both knew this vacation couldn't last forever, right?"

Rebekah's eyes are wet with unshed tears. Her bottom lip wobbles a little before she answers. "Right."

"So, we're good." Matt looks down at her with a forced smile. "Now, come on." He spins her around and gives her a gentle push.

The attendant behind the counter rattles off a perfunctory greeting in Spanish and asks for the intended destination.

Rebekah is caught off guard for a moment but shakes it off quickly and raises her chin resolutely. "One-way, first class to Louis Armstrong International, New Orleans," she says in flawless Spanish. "One ticket-"

"Two tickets." Matt corrects her in much more flawed Spanish as he leans over her shoulder. "Please."

Rebekah looks up at him stunned, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape.

**Out in the middle of nowhere outside New Orleans** stands a single ramshackle farmhouse between the trees and shrubbery of the marshland along the bayou. The water is murky and brown, the perfect hiding place for alligators and snakes.

"I can't believe you dragged me out here in the middle of the night," Caroline says, grimacing in dismay as she reaches one hand towards Klaus for help, her other shining the flashlight ahead of her.

"I beg your pardon?" Klaus turns around with a bemused scowl on his face, shining his flashlight at Caroline. "Weren't you the one who insisted on accompanying me?" He grabs her hand and helps her over the fallen tree in their way.

"Semantics," Caroline says waspishly as she passes him, headed determinedly for the house.

Klaus catches up to her at the top of the steps leading to the main entrance. "Perhaps we should-"

Caroline knocks firmly on the screen door before he can finish his sentence. "Hello? Is anyone in there?"

"It's open!" A strong female voice calls from somewhere inside the house.

Caroline looks at Klaus questioningly before she knocks on the door again, a little louder.

"I said it's open." The cheer in the woman's voice sounds a little forced this time.

Klaus shrugs and bangs his fist against the door several times.

"Mézanmis! Don't you know how to open a door? Come on in, already! I'm making a roux!"

Klaus is the first to enter. His eyes are immediately drawn to the woman behind the large old-fashioned kitchen counter. "You should be more cautious who you invite into your home," he says with a cheeky grin.

The middle-aged, portly woman raises her head to look sharply at Klaus. "I don't have to be afraid of you Hybrid." She calmly keeps stirring her roux. "You came all the way out here because you want something. You're not going to try to kill me before you get it."

Klaus freezes in place as his eyes narrow in suspicion at the woman.

The woman looks past him towards the entrance. "Come on in, piti. Step closer. No need to be shy."

Caroline steps closer but hovers just behind Klaus's shoulder. "We're sorry to bother you," she says politely. "But we're looking for someone."

The woman laughs heartily as she keeps stirring the pot. "Nobody bothers Mama Reynaud," she says with a smile. "I know why you're here."

**In the heart of the French Quarter,** the bars and restaurants are filling up quickly as the night wears on. The 'Deveraux's' is no exception. Two bartenders are busy serving drinks to thirsty patrons as Sophie Deveraux wields her knife in the kitchen.

The arrival of a large group draws everyone's attention to the entrance. The crowd parts for them as Marcel walks in with more than a dozen of his vampires in tow.

His followers quickly mingle among the patrons, taking up the few empty tables and joining a game of pool in the back.

Marcel walks up to the bar alone, stepping between two human guys in their twenties. He narrows his eyes as he looks from left to right then laughs as he watches the men scatter like cockroaches.

The blonde bartender, Camille, throws a dish-rag down in front of him, interrupting his cackle. "I hope you plan on buying tonight," she says as she starts to wipe down the bar. "That little display of manliness just cost me at least twenty bucks in tips."

Marcel's eyes crawl from her cleavage to her face as he braces his chin on his hand and smiles his most charming smile. "No worries. I promise I'll make up for it." He quirks his brows and casually leans back to look around the bar. "Good evening, everyone," he says loudly. "Next round's on me!"

The crowd breaks out in hollers of appreciation and applause to thank him for his generous offer.

Sophie glares at Marcel through the open doorway, rams her knife into the cutting-board and storms out the back.

Cami rolls her eyes and shakes her head with a smile as she walks away.

**At the airport**, Matt and Rebekah are boarding their plane, making their way down the aisle between two rows of seats.

Matt looks over Rebekah's head, checking the labels on the overhead compartments. "Seventeen, A and B, that's us."

Rebekah swings around and plops down on the window seat. "I still don't understand," she says as she looks up at Matt. "Why are you coming with me?"

Matt opens the overhead and stows their carry-on. "Would you prefer it if I didn't?" he asks with a half-smile before he slams the hatch shut.

Rebekah looks uncomfortable for a moment. "No, but-"

Matt swings himself into the seat next to her. "Then stop asking." He removes the armrest between them and gets comfortable. "Besides, I never did get the chance to explore New Orleans," he says meaningfully. "It's almost like I've never been."

Rebekah sighs and rolls her eyes, but her mouth curls up in a small smile. "You're never going to let me live that down are you?"

Matt smiles back at her and shakes his head. "Nope. Not until I'm too old and senile to remember."

**Out in the bayou,** Caroline and Klaus are seated at a large kitchen table adjacent to each other, exchanging worried glances over glasses of water.

Mama Reynaud is still behind the kitchen counter, cobbling together some unknown brew in a large pot on the stove.

"She's awake now," Elijah's voice announces his arrival before he steps into the room.

Caroline looks up at Elijah in the doorway with a frown. "How is she?"

Elijah tilts his head in imitation of a shrug. "She seems to be feeling better."

Mama Reynaud clucks her tongue. "Good," she says. "Tell her to come out here. Dinner is just about ready."

Hayley steps into the room behind Elijah, glancing over his shoulder. When she sees Caroline at the table, she immediately flinches back behind him for protection. "What is she doing here?" she asks accusingly.

Caroline's brows furrow in confusion, but her hand balls into a fist on the table. "What's your problem? Afraid I'm going to call you onto the carpet for being a skanky hoe?"

Klaus leans towards Caroline but keeps his eyes on Hayley as he speaks. "Actually, you did a bit more than that the last time you two saw each other."

Caroline whips her head around to stare at Klaus, a thousand questions in her eyes.

Klaus turns his head to look at her, smiles and shrugs.

Caroline's eyes narrow dangerously. "We are so going to talk about this," she whispers before she turns her face away to glare at Hayley.

"Quiet down, mi zanfan." Mama Reynaud's tone brooks no argument. "Elijah, have a seat. Hayley, come here."

Hayley steps up to the stove and takes a whiff of what's boiling in the large pot. "Smells good," she says but her expression looks queasy.

Mama Reynaud makes a non-committal noise. She suddenly grabs a handful of Hayley's round belly and squeezes hard.

Hayley's eyes go wide in shock, but when she tries to move away the fingers dig even harder into her skin.

Mama Reynaud sucks in a breath as her sharp eyes turn milky white. "It is as I thought," she says ominously.

Hayley pries the woman's hand off her and stumbles back a few steps, covering her stomach protectively with her hands. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

Mama Reynaud's eyes have returned to their normal color. She clucks her tongue and shakes her head. "You've been feeling bad for a while, haven't you? Sick to your stomach. Can't sleep. Can't eat." Her eyes roam over Hayley's body, taking stock. "How bad is it? Have you been spitting blood yet? Losing teeth?" she asks in a cruel, clinical tone.

Hayley shakes her head in denial. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Liar," Mama Reynaud says decisively. "What you carry is not nature's blessing, it's an abomination. And it takes a lot of energy to keep a thing like that alive."

"It's not a thing!" Hayley lashes out in anger, but finds herself restrained before she can claw at Mama Reynaud. "It's Nature's loophole!" she screams in hapless fury.

Elijah keeps his arms around Hayley, restraining her from behind, as he turns his head to look from the witch to Klaus and Caroline at the table.

Klaus and Caroline are watching the scene in front of them with matching expressions of shock and confusion.

The old witch shakes her head as she looks at the young werewolf with pity. "Nature has no loopholes, dear. Nature only has rules," she says calmly. "But any rule can be broken." She wipes her hands on a kitchen towel and throws it on the counter. "Unfortunately for you, even though someone else broke the rule, you'll be the first to suffer the consequences."


	17. Chapter 17

**"Witches talk. Even on the other side. Who do you think makes all the rules?"**

The sounds of nocturnal animals accompany Klaus and Caroline as they trek back through the marshland to Klaus's car.

Neither of them says a word as they get into the car and buckle their seat-belts.

Caroline is the first to break the silence. "I don't think it's right."

Klaus stops with his hand on the ignition to turn towards Caroline. "And what pray tell would have been the right thing to do?"

Caroline shakes her head and wipes her hands down her face. "I don't know!" She frowns deeply as she drops her hands in her lap. "But it seems wrong to just leave her there." She motions vaguely in the direction of the house near the bayou.

Klaus rolls his eyes and starts the engine. "You're worse than Elijah. He's going to stay here with her as long as it takes. And I, for one, can't think of a better place to keep her than with the only witch who actually knows how to take care of her. Can you?"

Caroline bites her lip and shakes her head again. "I guess not." She sucks in a breath and straightens her spine. "Fine, let's get out of here."

Klaus smirks as he moves one arm behind the passenger side headrest and slowly backs the car out of the underbrush towards the main road. "Back to my place then?"

"You wish." Caroline scoffs sarcastically. "I have a place to stay. Just drop me off at the station by the Market."

**The 'Deveraux's' restaurant and bar **is crowded with people in all stages of inebriation as the clock behind the bar goes on midnight.

Cami is still behind the bar, casting occasional glances in Marcel's direction between customers.

Marcel has moved on to one of the pool tables, hustling naïve tourists for their spending money. When he makes a particularly impressive shot, he takes a moment to look up and grin at Cami.

Klaus enters the restaurant and heads straight to the bar. He comes to a sudden halt after a few steps and turns his gaze to the ceiling. His nostrils flare and he clenches his jaw for a moment before he deliberately puts on a broad, casual grin and slowly turns his head to look at Marcel at the pool table.

"Marcel." He rolls the name off his tongue as he turns fully towards the other man.

"Klaus." Marcel returns the greeting and straightens up casually, flashing a dimpled grin as his grip on the pool-cue tightens.

Cami watches the interaction between the two men with a wary expression.

"It's been a while," Marcel says. The grin is still on his face, but his gaze is sharp as a knife. "Jog my memory, when did we last see each other?"

Klaus smirks back at Marcel with narrowed eyes. "I'd say it was a little over a month ago," he says vaguely. "Things have been quite busy. Perhaps you'd like to catch up over a drink?"

"Sure," Marcel drawls before he bends back over the pool table and lines up a shot. He clears the rest of his balls in two impossible shots and smiles at his gaping opponent as he swipes the stack of twenties off the table. "Good game."

Klaus rolls his eyes at the display and proceeds to the bar, signaling for the bartender's attention with a hundred dollar bill between his fingers.

Cami saunters over to them. Her gaze flicks back and forth between Klaus and Marcel, observing both of them for any signs of imminent trouble. "If it isn't Houdini," she says as she snatches the money from Klaus's fingers. "You never did answer my question."

Marcel steps up at that moment and exchanges a look with Klaus, then with Cami before he arches an eyebrow. "You two know each other?"

Klaus smiles cordially with a casual shrug. "We met briefly. I'm surprised she remembers."

Cami shrugs just as casually. "I never forget a face. Especially not one that offers a Ben Franklin." She smiles winningly as she waves the bill between her fingers. "So, what'll it be? Another bottle of our best scotch?"

Marcel and Klaus are too busy glaring at each other to acknowledge her.

Cami rolls her eyes and turns around to grab the bottle. She places it loudly on the counter between the two men and puts a couple of glasses in front of it.

Both men slowly turn their heads to look at the bottle, then up at Cami.

"Don't cause any trouble." She gives them a long, stern look before she turns away to tend to other customers.

**Sunlight floods the second floor hallway of the plantation house** by the time Caroline heads for a shower the next morning.

Her eyes are half closed as she opens the bathroom door. What she sees inside makes them fly open as she stumbles back with a squawk and slams the door shut again.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Caroline shouts through the closed door.

A few seconds later the door opens from the inside and Rebekah steps out, wearing nothing but a large towel. "I think the better questions is, what are you doing here?"

Matt looks disgruntled as he steps up behind Rebekah, still tightening the knot on the towel he hastily wrapped around his waist.

Caroline blinks rapidly as she tries to look anywhere but the nearly naked couple. "You're supposed to be in Mexico!" she says accusingly.

Rebekah huffs and barrels past Caroline, headed towards her bedroom. "And you're supposed to be a first year at Whitmore. Guess we've all got stories to tell."

Caroline looks after Rebekah for a moment before she turns a disbelieving look at Matt. "Seriously? Her?"

"She's nice to me." Matt shrugs as he moves past Caroline at a more sedate pace. He turns back around a few steps away from Rebekah's door. "Oh, um I think we used up the hot water."

**Out by the bayou**, Hayley watches Mama Reynaud putter around the kitchen as she prepares another unknown concoction, possibly breakfast, on the stove.

"I still don't understand how this was even possible," Hayley says plaintively.

"With magic, anything is possible." Mama Reynaud pats Hayley's shoulder as she walks by her. "All they needed was a witch powerful enough to do the spell and willing to sacrifice her life in exchange for another."

"But wouldn't they have needed something of mine?" Hayley's brows furrow skeptically.

The witch turns around from the stove to show Hayley a strand of hair she just took from her. "Something like this you mean?"

Hayley blanches, one hand automatically reaching for her hair, as she looks wide-eyed at the strand.

"You still don't remember, do you?" Mama Reynaud shakes her head sadly as she turns her back again. She pulls a gas-lighter out of a drawer and goes to burn the strand of hair over the sink.

"What are you talking about?" Hayley asks suspiciously, one hand cradling her stomach protectively.

The witch clucks her tongue and returns to the stove to stir the contents of the pot on the burner. "They brought you here that night."

Hayley's jaw drops as she freezes in her chair. She takes a breath to say something, but then thinks better of it and snaps her mouth shut.

Mama Reynaud continues, looking out the window. "Didn't tell me what they'd done, but they expected me to watch over you. Said you were important. Mon dieu! For days I watched over you, poured water, food and magic down your throat to keep you alive. Had I known-"

"What?" Hayley's whole body is tense as a bowstring, her hands balled into fists on top of the counter. "What would you have done?" Her eyes are bright with unshed tears.

"I would have let you go in peace, ma piti." Mama Reynaud says quietly.

Elijah startles both women when he speaks up from the doorway. "Am I to understand that this whole pregnancy is nothing but a sham?" His tone is dangerously calm.

Mama Reynaud hums in her throat as she looks between Elijah and Hayley. "The pregnancy is very real, but her indiscretions with the hybrid played no role in the conception."

"So it's not Klaus's child?" Hayley asks, sounding hopeful.

"No more or less than it is yours," the witch says cryptically. "It was the witches who created it."

"How is that possible?" Elijah steps further into the kitchen, placing himself at Hayley's side. "Sophie Deveraux claims that a spell merely to confirm the pregnancy was enough to cost her sister's life."

Mama Reynaud laughs and shakes her head patronizingly. "You're showing your true age, vampire. These days, all it takes to confirm or dispel the rumor of pregnancy is to pee on a stick."

Elijah closes his eyes and grinds his teeth as he takes a deep breath through his nose.

The witch nods slowly. "The spell that cost Jane-Anne Deveraux her life was to create life where none should have ever been."

Hayley interrupts, shaking her head in denial. "But how would they have gotten Klaus's hair?"

"Obviously, someone gave it to them." Mama Reynaud shrugs nonchalantly. "It could have been some hair but, more likely, it was blood."

Elijah's face goes blank as he listens to the witch's explanation. His hand balls into a fist at his side and he bites his tongue to stay quiet. After a long moment, he looks at Mama Reynaud and narrows his eyes in suspicion. "Why are you betraying your own kind?"

Mama Reynaud scoffs. "They may be witches, but they are not my kind. They broke the rules of nature for their own selfish gain, regardless of the consequences."

Elijah accepts the explanation with a raised eyebrow. "If you feel that strongly about the rules, why are you still helping to keep Hayley alive?"

"Because I am not a killer." Mama Reynaud says coldly as she turns back to the stove. "And it is not on me to set right what went wrong. All I can do is offer comfort as nature takes its course."


	18. Chapter 18

I'm sad to say I'm running out of quotes from the show to start my chapters. But I refuse to hold up on posting to scroll through 4 seasons worth of transcripts in the hopes of finding something appropriate. Of course if you can think of one, you are welcome to send me a PM :-) Enjoy! And as always: No fowl, no harm.

!

**The late morning sun shines brightly through the veranda doors into the formal dining room** where Matt, Rebekah and Caroline sit around the table with what is left of their breakfast.

"Argentinian tango, hm?" Caroline asks, staring at the couple in awe and disbelief as she plays with the coffee mug in her hand.

Matt nods. "Yepp." He takes a sip from his own mug.

Caroline's eyes narrow in jealousy as she turns her gaze on Rebekah. "How did you get him to do that?"

Rebekah smiles saucily, trailing one finger tip slowly over the rim of her mug. "Well-"

"Not one word." Matt cuts her off with a warning glare.

Rebekah snickers gleefully but complies and refrains from finishing her sentence.

Caroline shakes her head at the duo as she leans back in her chair. After a moment of oddly comfortable silence, she's the first to speak again. "So, what are we going to do about this whole Hayley debacle?"

**The mid-day sun barely reaches the seedy back alley in the heart of the French Quarter. **The dumpster near its mouth is overflowing to the point that you can barely see the fire safety door behind it. The cobblestone path beside the large container is just wide enough to admit the tall black van that quietly pulls into the alley.

The van comes to a stop just behind the dumpster and its side door slides open to reveal a tall, thickly muscled man with buzz cut dark hair. He quietly jumps out of the van, followed by a wiry blond guy and a curvy woman with long brown curls. Behind them, a third guy hovers inside the vehicle with one hand on the inside of the door.

"Stick to the plan." The dark haired man turns around to address his group. "If we're not back in ten minutes, get out of here and rejoin the others."

The man inside the van nods tersely. "Have fun." He grins shakily before he pulls the side door closed.

The trio turns towards the fire safety door and the two shorter ones fall in line behind their leader, flanking him on each side.

Sunlight floods the abandoned building as the fire safety door bursts open.

Several vampires scream as they scamper away from the burning light.

The trio quickly invades the room and fans out, easily overwhelming the surprised vampires.

The curvy brunette grabs a young male vampire who tries to escape, ripping into his throat with vicious teeth and claws before she breaks his neck and tosses him aside.

Close by, her leader has two vampires by the neck, smashing their skulls together with a sickening crack before he bites each of them, tearing chunks out of their skin. He drops the unconscious load and quickly moves on to the next victim within reach.

His blond wing-man is caught in a grapple with a female vampire, struggling to keep her at bay until he suddenly starts to grin. "Sorry, sweetheart," he says in a deep southern drawl and pulls her in, meshing their mouths together before he pulls back just as quickly.

The female vampire screams in agony as copious amounts of blood spill from her mouth.

The blonde guy breaks her neck mid scream and spits out her tongue with a disgusted grunt.

Suffering only a few scrapes and bruises, the trio makes short work of the remaining vampires until the unconscious bodies of their victims litter the dirty floor.

The leader pulls out a small can of lighter fluid and sprays it over the vampires as if they were no more than pieces of charcoal.

"We're done here." He signals his followers to get out through the door. Once he's alone, he strikes a match and drops it on the closest body, watching in satisfaction as it lights up and spreads the fire to the surrounding vampires.

**The back-door to the karaoke bar bursts open **and a young male vampire stumbles inside. Even as his skin heals, smoke is still rising from his clothes and the fabric is mottled with burn holes from the sun.

"Marcel!" The vampire trips and falls to the ground, his whole body shaking. "Please, I need to see Marcel."

A few minutes later, the same vampire is cowered over a glass of whiskey at a private table in Marcel's daytime headquarters. He's visibly shaken from telling his story and looks skittishly around the room.

Two of Marcel's day-walkers are flanking the only exit, their arms crossed as they stand guard.

Marcel is sprawled across a chair on the opposite side of the table, assessing the sun-singed night-walker with a sharp gaze. "And you're the only one that made it out alive. How did you get so lucky?"

"I got out through the roof hatch." The vampire shrugs and folds in on himself. "Nearly burned to dust 'fore I made it 'cross the gap and got into the next building over."

Marcel nods slowly as his eyes narrow in deep thought. "And you're sure they weren't vampires? Some rival gang with a bone to pick?"

The vampire shakes his head. "The sunlight didn't hurt'em and I didn't see any rings like that." He jerks his chin towards Marcel's right hand.

Marcel lifts his hand and looks contemplatively at the large silver daylight ring on his ring finger. "Now, who would be bold enough to roll into this town and think they can challenge me?"

**Klaus is idly browsing through the Dutch Alley Co-Op at the other end of the French Market **when Marcel's goons find him.

He barely has a second to notice that someone is behind him before he is flanked by two large, burly day-walkers.

One of them sneers and lays a heavy hand on Klaus's shoulder. "Marcel wants to see you. Now."

Klaus raises an eyebrow at the hand on his shoulder then looks up at the goon with a wordless threat.

The guy ignores the threat and pushes Klaus towards the large wooden doors in the back of the shop.

Klaus sighs, sending a put upon look towards the ceiling before he smiles patronizingly at the beefy guards. "You know you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, boys." He placidly walks along and steps through the doors first.

As soon as the doors are closed behind them, Klaus whirls around and rams his hands through their chests, grasping one heart in each fist. "Too bad it's now too late for you to learn that." His eyes light up with vindictive pleasure as he rips out the un-beating organs and presents them to their owners with a smile.

Klaus wipes his hands clean on one of their shirts and disposes of their bodies in the dumpster, covering them up with trash bags. By the time he returns to the shop, the blood on his hands is no longer noticeable. He walks back to the playful display of hats where the goons found him and picks out a bright, cheerful summer hat.

The woman behind the register smiles at him in blissful ignorance. "Would you like me to gift-wrap that for you?"

"Yes, that would be nice, thank you," Klaus says with an equally happy smile as he pulls out his credit card.


	19. Chapter 19

I'm sorry for the delay in updating. I had started this chapter right after I posted the last one, however, I had to rewrite it several times. Still not sure about it, but I hope you will like it. Con-crit is welcome. Thank you for the wonderful feedback so far. Enjoy! And as always: No fowl, no harm :)

!

"**What an entirely unwelcome surprise." - "And what an entirely unsurprising welcome." **

The sun is moving westward in the sky by the time Klaus shows up on the doorstep of the plantation house. The gift wrapped box is tucked under his arm as he presents a bouquet of flowers in his other hand.

"I come in peace," he says playfully, flashing his most charming smile for the benefit of his audience.

Caroline crosses her arms and stays just out of his reach next to the open door. She purses her lips as her gaze moves from Klaus's expression to the bouquet in his hand and finally to the gift wrapped box under his arm.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she turns her head to address the housemaid who opened the door. "Annmarie, would you please invite our guest into the house?"

"Yes, Miss Caroline." The maid curtsies before she turns to Klaus. "Please, come inside, sir."

Caroline's eyes stay on Klaus as she says, "That will be all, Annmarie."

"Yes, Miss Caroline," the maid says with another curtsy before she closes the door and walks away.

Klaus smiles roguishly as he hands Caroline the flowers. "You seem to enjoy your part as lady of the manor."

She grabs the bouquet and starts to walk away from Klaus. "It's a necessary evil. Unlike some people, I don't get my kicks from forcing others to do my bidding."

"Now, that's not quite true, is it?" Klaus follows her through the foyer. "I seem to remember you deriving a great deal of enjoyment from bossing people around at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant."

Caroline falters in her step before she raises her chin and keeps moving. "That is so not the same."

He doesn't bother to hide his sarcastic chuckle. "If you say so, luv."

"Shut up," Caroline says waspishly as she steps through into the kitchen. She places the flowers in the sink and turns around to look at Klaus over the kitchen counter between them. "Is that for me too?" She points at the package under his arm.

Klaus smiles and places the box on the counter, pushing it towards her. "I thought of you while I was browsing through one of my favorite little art shops-"

"Stop." Caroline holds up a hand and looks at him sharply. "You don't get to tell charming little stories. Not until you tell me the whole truth about what you took out of my head. And what you put in it."

She opens the box and takes a look inside. Her eyes light up for a moment and she smiles involuntarily as she touches the rim of the summer hat. She quickly closes the lid and presses her lips tightly together before she looks up at Klaus. "You may be allowed some grovelling in the process of explaining."

"Yes, Niklaus, please do explain." Rebekah steps around the corner of the entrance, arms crossed and a thunderous expression on her face as she leans against the doorway.

Klaus freezes for an instant then slowly turns to look at his sister. "Rebekah."

Rebekah remains in her spot, head held high as she glares icily at her brother. "And don't leave out the part where you burst in here and threatened me with a white oak dagger, demanding that I compel Matt to forget 'the whole sordid affair' just so you could keep it a secret from Caroline."

Caroline blanches as her gaze flies from Rebekah to Klaus. "You did what?"

Klaus stares down Rebekah with a murderous expression as his hand clenches on the counter. "I'll be sure to mention it."

Rebekah smiles vindictively at Klaus before she turns her gaze to Caroline. "We'll wait for you in the parlor," she says, as she pushes herself off the doorway. "If I were you I wouldn't believe a word coming out of his mouth." Rebekah throws one last disgusted look in Klaus's direction before she leaves.

Klaus growls after his sister then turns around to look at Caroline. Fury mixes with desperation on his features as he reaches out towards her. "You asked me to explain. So, please, give me the chance to do so before you walk out on me again," he says in a low voice.

Caroline pulls her hand out of his reach and crosses her arms tightly in front of her chest, watching him guardedly. She doesn't say anything for a long moment as she stares at him.

Klaus remains silent, leaned over the counter as he looks back at Caroline.

Finally, Caroline sucks in a breath and releases it slowly. "Go ahead."

Klaus acknowledges her statement with raised eyebrows. "Where would you like me to start?"

**The Karaoke bar is full to capacity as the clock behind the bar goes on nine pm. **A group of drunk tourists has taken over the stage in the corner. The vampires are mingled among the crowd; a half dozen day-walkers and at least twice as many night-walkers chatting with their dinner.

The crowd parts quickly around Klaus as he prowls the establishment. When he doesn't find what he's looking for in the main area, he heads straight toward the private table in the back, unfazed by the vampires starting to follow him.

Marcel sits behind the table, caught up in an intense conversation with one of his minions opposite him.

Klaus steps into the threshold of the private room and leans casually against the doorjamb, crossing one foot in front of the other. "You asked to see me. Here I am."

Marcel stops talking and slowly looks up from his conversation to give Klaus and his immediate surroundings a quick once-over. "I had expected you sooner," Marcel says as his eyes narrow in suspicion.

Klaus shrugs casually. "I'm sorry, I couldn't make it any sooner than this. I had previous obligations."

Marcel dismisses his minion with the wave of a hand and leans back in his chair. "And where are the men I sent to escort you?" His smile is stiff and his whole body is tense, ready for action.

Klaus grins as he sticks his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans, jutting out his hips. "Exactly where I left them, I presume." His grin evaporates and his expression turns cold. "At the bottom of a dumpster behind North Peters'."

Marcel's smile disappears and he curls his hand into a fist on top of the table. "I see."

Klaus straightens up and takes his hands out of his pockets, tilting his chin just enough to glance over his shoulder.

Several of Marcel's minions are drawing closer, cutting off any possible retreat through the main bar.

Klaus deliberately turns his eyes back on Marcel. "Why did you call me here?"

Marcel relaxes his fist and lays his palm flat on the table. "It has been brought to my attention that a group of unknown assailants attacked a compound of my night-walkers up on North Rampart." His gaze bores into Klaus as he starts to slowly tap his fingers. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that?"

"Why would I?" Klaus crosses his arms and raises his brows. "I'm here to enjoy fine arts, great food and beautiful music. I don't waste my time keeping up with what's happening to the vermin in this city."

"Don't lie to me!" Marcel slams his fist down and jolts out of his seat, easily swiping the table out of his way as he stalks toward Klaus. "They were roux-ga-roux." He doesn't stop until there is less than a foot between them.

Klaus doesn't even flinch. "And why should that mean anything to me?" he asks calmly as he meets Marcel's challenge with an unrelenting stare, keeping his arms crossed in front of his chest.

The phone in Marcel's pocket rings. He barely suppresses a flinch as his hand flies to the device. His gaze stays fixated on Klaus as he picks up the call. "What is it?"

The male voice on the other end of the line is panicky and loud. "Boss, she's freaking out! She's starting all kinds of sh-" The man screams and something crashes near the phone. It sounds like there is a tornado going on wherever the call is coming from.

Klaus raises an eyebrow and smiles patronizingly. "Problems?"

The guy on the other side is barely audible over the racket. "Boss, what do I do?"

Marcel glares at Klaus. A muscle twitches in his jaw as he clenches his teeth. "Sedate her."

"I can't!" The guy sounds desperate. "She won't let me get close!"

Klaus doesn't bother to hide his chuckle.

Marcel takes a deep breath and whirls around turning his back on Klaus. "Put her on the phone."

The man yells over the racket as things crash and wind rushes in the background. "Marcel wants to talk to you!"

The noise ends abruptly and there is perfect silence on the other end of the line until a female voice rings out bright and clear. "Marcel! It's terrible. They're dying! The witches are dying, Marcel. So many of them! They're slaughtering them. The whole coven. And it hurts, it hurts so bad."

"Who?" Marcel asks impatiently as he takes a few steps away.

Klaus raises both brows. He cocks his head and listens attentively.

The woman whines for a moment, but then she sniffles once and goes completely quiet. She sounds like she's in a trance when she speaks again. "Beware the wolf. The big bad wolf. He's come to tear your sheep, all your little sheep. He wants the baby. Where is the baby?"

Klaus's whole body freezes as his eyes go wide.

An ear-piercing scream reverberates through the speakers. Then there's complete silence.

Marcel brings the phone back to his ear. "Davina?" When he gets no response he violently kicks the chair closest to him. "Damn it. Andre? Andre!" Once again, he doesn't receive a response. He stabs the disconnect button with his thumb.

Klaus swallows thickly. His face is still ashen, but he forcefully relaxes his stance. He slowly starts to walk towards the back door, taking every step as casually as possible.

Marcel whips around, eyes narrowed as he glares hotly at Klaus. "Where are you going?"

"Home." Klaus smirks as he half-turns towards Marcel and shrugs one shoulder dismissively. "It sounds like you have quite the problem to deal with."

"And just who's responsible for this problem?" Marcel's nostrils flare as his fingers clench around the phone in his hand.

"I don't know and don't care." Klaus smiles as he takes a step towards Marcel. "All I care about is that your little Mademoiselle just cleared my name."

"Really?" Marcel snorts disbelievingly. His whole body is still tense and ready to strike. "How do you figure that?"

Klaus is the picture of relaxed as he takes another step towards Marcel. "Because whoever it is, they're looking for a baby. And you'll have to agree that just doesn't sound like me, does it?"

Marcel doesn't say anything in response. He grits his teeth and after a few seconds waves off his followers.

The minions outside go back to mingling with the crowd.

Klaus nods slowly, a patronizing smile curling the corners of his mouth. "Bon chance, my friend." He claps Marcel on the shoulder. "I'll see you around." He keeps his head high as he turns away and leaves through the backdoor.

Once he steps outside, Klaus's smile melts from his face. His expression turns grim as he walks down the street at a hurried pace. He pulls out his cell phone and calls Elijah. After a few seconds, he curses under his breath. "Call me as soon as you get this, brother. We have a problem."


	20. Chapter 20

**"Family is power" - "What family? We're three distrustful acquaintances who happen to share a bloodline."**

Elijah's penthouse on Canal Street is a stark contrast to Klaus's studio apartment and Rebekah's plantation house. Everything is modern, sleek and stylish. Chrome, glass and black leather dominate the space between the polished marble tile and the high ceiling. The three original siblings are gathered in the expansive open area that holds the living room, kitchen and dining room.

Klaus's fingers are digging into the backrest of the couch as he leans heavily on it. His posture is tense and the obstinate expression on his face does not bode well.

Rebekah is perched on one of the high stools at the breakfast bar, both elbows braced behind her on the counter as she looks from one brother to the other. "I don't see what the problem is." Her legs are crossed and the toe of her high-heel is twitching rapidly. "Someone wants to kill all the witches and vampires in this town and take the baby? Isn't that a win on all levels?"

Elijah has his back turned to both of them. His hands are buried in the pockets of his slacks as he contemplates the view of downtown New Orleans on the other side of the safety glass. "We are not giving up the baby." His tone rings with finality.

Klaus thrusts one hand towards his brother as he glares at Rebekah. "That would be the problem."

Rebekah rolls her eyes. "Of course." She jumps down from the bar stool and slowly approaches her oldest brother. "Elijah, you have to see reason here." She tentatively places a hand on his shoulder. "Do you really want to get into a fight with a bunch of redneck werewolves over this?"

Elijah looks at her over his shoulder. "This is your niece or nephew we're talking about. Family."

Rebekah makes a disgruntled noise. "It's another elaborate scheme that Katerina Petrova cooked up in her latest bid to escape Klaus!" She smacks Elijah's shoulder in frustration and grabs his arm. "For all we know, Klaus might not even be the real father!"

Behind them Klaus scoffs and resumes his pacing. "I've tried to tell him that, but it's useless."

Elijah finally turns to look at Klaus. "Because it is yours. The witch confirmed as much. Conceived through a spell, but with your DNA."

Klaus whirls around. "A bloody spell?" He snaps his mouth shut and purses his lips.

Rebekah snorts caustically. "So what? It's still not worth it!"

Elijah narrows his eyes. "Isn't it?" He turns his attention to Rebekah. "Think Rebekah. We're talking about the offspring of the original hybrid, created by sheer force of will and magic. There is no limit to what this child could be capable of."

Rebekah draws back, her lips thinning as she frowns at Elijah. "Is that what this is really about?" She turns on her heel and storms back to the breakfast bar.

Elijah pulls himself to his full height as he calls after her. "It's about family."

"This is ridiculous," Rebekah mutters under her breath as she puts a glass on the counter and quickly finds a bottle of hard liquor to fill it with.

Elijah is relentless as he turns his gaze on his brother. "And about power."

"Here we go again." Klaus throws his hands up and stalks over to join Rebekah. "I'm going to need one of those." He points towards the glass on the counter.

Rebekah adds a second glass and fills both of them generously. "This is all your fault, you know that, right?" She glares at Klaus and slams the bottle down on the counter.

"My fault?" Klaus scoffs and grabs the glass closest to him. "I don't see how I can be held responsible for any of this." He takes a big gulp from his drink.

"Really?" Rebekah picks up the other glass and leans over the bar. "Well, let me enlighten you. If it wasn't for your complete inability to keep it in your pants, none of us would be here right now."

Klaus's tone is icily polite as his eyes narrow. "If you don't want to get involved, by all means, feel free to leave." He makes a sweeping gesture towards the exit with his free hand. "Since I don't recall asking you to come here in the first place."

"Who says I came here for you?" Rebekah goads him with a smug smile before she takes a sip from her drink.

"Oh, I see." Klaus rolls his eyes and huffs in annoyance as he puts his glass back down. "Once again, you and Elijah have decided to team up on me-"

Elijah moves closer, watching both of them warily. "No one is teaming up on you," he says placatingly.

"Even though you'd perfectly deserve it," Rebekah adds waspishly.

Klaus scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Right, because I've caused you so much suffering-"

Rebekah slams her glass down, splashing alcohol in every direction. "You pissed away my only chance at becoming human!"

Elijah is at the counter now, reaching out towards Rebekah. "Perhaps we should-"

Rebekah bats away Elijah's hand and rounds the counter to get in Klaus's face. "If it wasn't for you, I'd be-"

"You'd be dead!" Klaus slams his fist on the counter and shouts right back in her face. "Or worse, crying on my shoulder over the biggest mistake you ever made in your life!"

Rebekah slams her fist on the counter just as hard. "I want to be human!"

"No, you don't!"

"God, why don't you ever listen?" Tears are starting to glisten in Rebekah's eyes.

"Because you never say anything worth listening to!" Klaus's fingers are curled so tightly that his fists are shaking.

"I hate you!" She pushes him away and runs past him towards the bathroom.

"Likewise!" He whirls around to scream after her.

"I hope you rot in hell!" She slams the bathroom door so hard that the wall cracks and plaster drizzles from the ceiling.

The closed door does not deter Klaus as he yells after her. "Hell would be preferable to suffering another minute of your whiny, selfish drama!"

Elijah grabs Klaus by the shoulder and squeezes hard. "That's enough."

Klaus whips his head around with an obstinate glower. "She started it."

Elijah tilts his head slightly. "And you finished it. Now leave her be. We'll need her."

They both glare at each other quietly for a long moment, neither willing to be the first to back down.

Then Klaus shifts his weight and raises his chin. "I almost forgot. There's something else about this kid's lineage that might become a problem." He grins facetiously. "Hayley's one of them."

Elijah blinks as his brows rise high on his forehead and his hand drops from Klaus's shoulder. "I beg your pardon?"

"Yeah." Klaus nods, still grinning. "I noticed the crescent birthmark on her shoulder the morning after."

"If Hayley is one of the roux-ga-roux..." Elijah trails off as his brows furrow with a frown. "That does make matters rather more complicated."

Klaus chuckles and claps Elijah on the shoulder. "Ah, take heart, brother. Aren't complications your specialty?"

Rebekah chooses that moment to reemerge from the bathroom. "Matt's coming to pick me up."

Elijah turns around from Klaus to look at her in surprise. "Matt?"

Unlike his brother, Klaus is not surprised. "Matthew Donovan of the Mystic Falls Donovans," he says in a dead-pan tone to Elijah before he rounds on Rebekah with a glare. "I seem to remember telling you to compel that foolish boy and ditch him."

"You did," Rebekah says blandly as she straightens up and braces one hand on her hip. "But I am done listening to you." She raises her chin and looks down her nose at him. " Let's face it, Nik, you'll need me here if you want to take back this city." Rebekah smiles brightly as she continues. "And that means you'll have to tolerate Matt."

Klaus gnashes his teeth and narrows his eyes, but he doesn't say anything to refute her claim.

She walks up to Elijah, purposely rounding Klaus to hug her oldest brother. "Give me a call when you need me."

Elijah's face clearly shows his disapproval. "Rebekah-"

She squeezes him harder and leans up to kiss his cheek. "I'll go wait for Matt downstairs." She rounds Klaus again without touching him on her way to the elevator that serves as entrance and exit to the penthouse. "See you later, Niklaus."

Klaus rolls his eyes as he crosses his arms and turns his back on her, not bothering to return a farewell.

Elijah pinches the bridge of his nose and waits until the elevator doors have closed in front of Rebekah before he speaks again. Then he sighs and looks at Klaus. "Matthew Donovan. Really?"

Klaus cocks his head to the side, tongue in cheek as he picks up his glass again. "Exactly what I said."

Elijah shrugs it off and goes to pour a glass for himself. "At least it's not a hunter this time."

Klaus nods in agreement. "Or a Salvatore."


	21. Chapter 21

"**Congratulations, you just became worth more to me alive than dead." **

Caroline is browsing through one of the many little shops down Decatur Street when Matt and Rebekah find her. Her hands are busy pushing hangers across the rack, shuffling through dresses at alarming speed with a stern frown on her face.

Rebekah is the first to approach. "Those dresses must really have crossed you."

Caroline lets go of the hangers and turns around with a glare. "It's not the dresses that crossed me, and you know it."

"Oh, please." Rebekah harrumphs as she steps up to the rack. "You're still mad at my brother?"

Caroline's jaw drops. "Of course I am!" She goes back to the dresses with a vengeance. "And I will be for a long, long time." With each pointed word she shoves another dress past on the rack.

Matt rolls his eyes and starts to walk backwards. "I'll go get us some coffee," he says and jogs off towards the cafe across the street.

"I can't believe he even told you." Rebekah starts shuffling through dresses side by side with Caroline.

Caroline rolls her eyes as she pulls out a bright pink dress. "That's because you people don't have a shred of human decency." She wrinkles her nose and sticks the dress back in.

Rebekah ignores Caroline's attitude in favor of frowning at a neon green strapless dress. "What I mean is that Klaus usually doesn't explain himself. No matter to whom, no matter what he did. He doesn't care." Rebekah turns sideways to look at Caroline speculatively. "Except for you apparently."

Caroline snorts and grabs another dress, this one rainbow colored tie-dye. "Yeah, well. If he actually cared , he wouldn't have done what he did in the first place."

"Right," Rebekah drawls as she curls her lip in disgust at an awfully patterned purple dress. "Because men are known to wait chastely and patiently until the lady of their heart finally melts and grants them her favor." She rolls her eyes. "You know, that's a bunch of horse crap that didn't even happen in the middle ages." She pulls out a yellow crinkled cotton dress and smiles in approval. "And I should know, because I lived through them."

Caroline's eyes narrow as an obstinate expression crosses her face. "And what makes you think I'm angry about Hayley? I could care less that he screwed that skank. Really. Who am I to judge? That is so not the point."

"Uh-huh," Rebekah says disbelievingly. "Then what exactly got you so riled up that he felt the need to compel you to forget everything?"

Caroline presses her lips together and sucks in a deep breath. "Can we just talk about something else?"

"Sure." Rebekah raises her eyebrow and purses her lips in a victorious smirk. "How about a pack of redneck werewolves that are attacking vamps and witches all over the Quarter, looking to snatch the demon spawn from my brother's hands?"

Caroline freezes in mid motion. "What?"

**Marcel passes several tourists on his way into the Old Ursuline Convent on Chartres Street.** He stops at the marble stoup at the entrance and dips his fingers into the holy water with a smile before he blesses himself and moves on. Ignoring the corded rope and 'staff only' signs on the second floor, he steps up to a heavy wooden door and unlocks it with an old fashioned skeleton key and a sleek gold security key for the much more recently installed bolt lock.

The board and batten shutters are closed against the heat of the day. The only light coming in falls to the floor in a wide cone from the wagon wheel window just below the ceiling. The room is sparsely furnished with a wrought iron bed in the corner of the tall gable, a low bed bench at its foot board and a writing desk on the opposite wall next to a stand up mirror.

Marcel closes the door behind him and blinks a couple of times while his eyes adjust to the lack of light, and looks around until he finds what he was looking for.

The young girl is curled up in the middle of the bed, her knees drawn to her chest under the white dress she's wearing, her arms wrapped tightly around them. Her long brown hair hangs in a loose braid over her shoulder.

Marcel stays perfectly still as his hands grasp thin air at his sides. "Davina."

Davina's head whips up at the soft-spoken call. Her eyes widen as her lips tremble and she nearly falls off the bed in her haste to get to him. "Marcel!" She throws her arms around his neck and buries her face in his shirt, holding on for dear life.

Marcel stiffens up for a moment, looking down at the mop of dark hair against his shoulder before he slowly lifts his arms and returns the fierce embrace. He rubs one hand soothingly up and down her back and speaks barely above a murmur. "What's going on, sugarplum? Talk to me. What did you see?"

"It's terrible." Davina pulls back just enough to look at him and her face crumples as more tears leave tracks down her cheeks. "They're animals. Vicious beasts. Worse than vampires. They want the baby and they'll kill everyone who gets in their way."

"It's alright, it's alright." Marcel frowns deeply as he reaches up and gently swipes his thumb over her cheeks to wipe away the tears. "So, what's that about a baby?" he asks without losing the croon in his tone.

Davina sniffles and wipes her face with both hands. "It's their new alpha."

Marcel nods slowly, a contemplative look on his face as he turns her around and leads her back to the bed. "So they're going after witches and vampires alike." he says under his breath as he sits down beside her, one arm securely around her shoulders. "What makes them think either of us has their precious spawn?" He shakes off his musings and looks down at her. "Any idea when and where this is going to happen?"

Davina shrugs one shoulder before she tucks herself against his side. "I don't know. Soon? It was very bright, daylight. And there were tombs." She pulls her legs close to her body and starts to fiddle with the hem of her skirt. "I'm scared."

Marcel hums low in his throat. "Don't worry, sugarplum." He rubs her shoulder soothingly and flashes her a cocky grin. "You're safe. No one's going to lay a finger on you as long as I'm around."

"Promise?" she asks hopefully.

"Promise." Marcel says confidently.

Davina lets go of her skirt to sling her arms around his waist and holds on tight. "I love you, daddy."

Marcel presses a kiss to the crown of her head and hums softly in agreement but his eyes are narrowed in contemplation as his expression grows cold with murderous intent.

**The vast plot of Lafayette Cemetery Number 1 bakes under the bright afternoon sun** when the black van pulls up at the front entrance. It spills three people from its side-door before it closes up again and drives away.

The tall, thickly muscled leader with buzz cut dark hair precedes his two followers through the iron gates at a leisurely stride. While the wiry blond man keeps a wary eye out as they follow the sandy path through the tombs, the curvaceous brunette is more interested in fixing her tight shirt so it covers the top of her denim shorts.

"Hey, hot-pants," the blond guy whispers harshly. "Deli! Stay sharp!"

The woman's head snaps up with a heated glare. "Don't call me that!"

"Then stop fussing around and pay attention, Adeline." He pauses before he says her full name, stressing each of the three syllables sarcastically.

"When will you get it through your thick skull? It's Adeline. Ah-duh-lean. Not Add-a-line, not Ey-duh-lyn, and definitely not Deli!"

"Yeah, whatever." The blond rolls his eyes. "You're not working for the Hustler on Bourbon, hon." His strong southern accent deepens the sarcastic drawl. "A fancy name's not going to earn you any extra."

Their leader stops dead in his tracks and lays a heavy hand around each of their necks. "Both of you, shut up and pay attention. The witches might not be able to pull any big magic tricks, but that doesn't mean they're not dangerous, understood?"

"Yes, Lucien," Adeline says right away, tucking her chin and looking up with big doleful eyes. "Sorry."

The blond grumbles something inaudible under his breath.

"What was that, Roy?" Lucien's grip tightens and he shakes the obstinate blond around a bit.

"Yes, sir," Roy finally says between gritted teeth.

"Thought so." Lucien lets both of them go with one last jerk to their necks and goes on ahead of them.

**Inside the crypt** that serves as the gathering place for the coven, Sophie Deveraux is surrounded by almost a dozen of her trusted sisters in spirit. However, none of them look particularly supportive of her at the moment.

"How could you let him take the girl?" A middle-aged black witch with tightly curled hair stares coldly at Sophie from her spot around the fire.

"I told you before, I didn't have a choice." Sophie says heatedly as she stands up and starts to pace. "Anyway, she'll be safe with the old hag. At least until the hybrid does his part and we get what we want."

A young strawberry blonde pipes up from the back. "And what makes you so sure he's not just going to kill us, now that he knows we don't actually control the pregnancy?"

Sophie shakes her head fiercely. "He won't. Klaus has as much interest in getting rid of Marcel as we do. And his brother won't let him do anything to put the child at risk."

"This is madness!" One of the older witches with long, graying hair gets up from her seat and throws up her hands. "I'm telling you, this whole plan is going to get us all killed!"

"I would have to agree with Glinda, here," Lucien says with a wicked smile as he steps closer from the entrance into the light of the flames.

Roy and Adeline are flanking him, both with devilish grins on their faces.

Sophie straightens to her full height and looks at the newcomers with cautious suspicion. "Who are you?"

"Lucien Garou." Lucien executes an exaggerated bow. He straightens back up and makes a sweeping gesture behind him. "And this is my sister Adeline and my cousin Roy."

Sophie's eyes widen as she stares at the trio in front of her. "Garou?"

Several of the witches gasp in recognition of the name and one of them starts to run for the exit. She doesn't get very far before she is caught and held firmly in place by Roy.

Sophie raises her chin and crosses her arms firmly in front of her chest. "What do you want from us?"

Adeline rolls her eyes. "Why do they always try to play dumb?" she asks towards Lucien.

Lucien raises one hand near his shoulder and shakes his head to prevent Adeline from saying any more. Then he takes a deliberate step forward towards Sophie. "Where is the baby?"

Sophie twitches just slightly before her face goes completely blank. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Lucien cocks his head to the side and looks at her with furrowed brows and an expression of obviously fake disappointment on his face. He clucks his tongue. "Somehow, I knew you were going to say that." He sighs and looks over his shoulder first at Roy, then at Adeline. "I guess we're going to do this the hard way."

The terrified screaming of the witches mingles with the monstrous growls and baying calls of the wolves. The sudden noise echoes across the empty cemetery and alarms a nearby flock of birds that takes to the sky in flight.

When everything is quiet again, Lucien Garou is the only one left standing upright with two large wolves flanking him. The light-colored male on his left is sitting on his haunches, licking blood off his chops with a canine grin while the dark-colored female on his right stands regally on all fours with her head raised high enough to reach Lucien's hip.

Sophie Deveraux is on the ground in front of him, both hands braced in the dirt to keep her from falling forward. There is blood on her arms and a growing bruise on her face as she looks up at Lucien with tears of hatred and despair in her eyes.

Around them the walls and floor are covered with blood and guts. The mangled bodies of the other witches are strewn like broken rag-dolls around the crypt.

Lucien smiles coldly down at Sophie. "Now, let's try this again. Where is the baby?"

Sophie hangs her head and cries silently for a moment, before she raises her face to the werewolf in front of her with a determined scowl on her face. "I'll tell you where you can find them, but there's someone you'll have to get rid of first."

Lucien blinks and jerks his head back in surprise then laughs loud and carefree. "You've got balls of steel little witch. I admire that." He reaches down and grabs Sophie by the arm, easily pulling her up from the floor. "Let's hear it then."

Sophie pries herself away from Lucien and straightens her clothes, then wipes her face with her shirt sleeve. "If you want the baby," she says as she tries to avoid looking at the bodies on the floor, "You will have to kill Marcel."


	22. Chapter 22

**"Your father didn't love you, so you assume that no one else will either. And that's why you compel people or you sire them or you try to buy them off. But that's not how it works. You don't connect with people, because you don't even try to understand them." - ****_Thank you for your honesty ~ Klaus_**

Caroline basks in the late afternoon sun, comfortably perched on a bench inside Jackson Square, the small park in front of St. Louis Cathedral. Her face is turned towards the sky, her eyes closed to shield them from the bright light.

"Excuse me, ma'am," a male voice says politely just in front of her.

Caroline opens her eyes to see who is talking to her and does a double take in surprise.

A middle aged man in a short sleeved shirt and slacks smiles at her as he raises a floppy hat. "Hello."

Caroline blinks in confusion as she straightens up in her seat and checks her clothes. "Um, hello?"

"I apologize for bothering you, but a guy who told me he's a friend of yours asked that I invite you on a special carriage ride through the city."

Caroline's expression immediately changes from confusion to suspicion. "Yeah, right." She gets up quickly and flips her hair over her shoulder. "I don't think so." She starts to walk away determinedly towards the nearest crowd of tourists.

"Wait, please!" The man hurries after her just as determinedly.

"Listen, buddy." Caroline whirls around and flashes her vampire face for just a second. "You don't want to mess with me."

The man stumbles in his step, but holds out an ivory colored envelope. "He asked me to give you this in case you didn't believe."

Caroline's eyes narrow dangerously as she snatches the envelope out of his hands. She keeps her eyes on him as she opens it and pulls out the single sheet of stationery.

_Caroline, _

_In hopes that I am still permitted 'some grovelling', please accept my sincerest apologies and allow me to provide you an intimate and deeply personal impression of the colorful history and life-changing experiences that truly make this my city. _

_Klaus _

Caroline stares at the card stoically before she finally folds it, stuffs it back into the envelope and puts it into her purse. She raises her chin and flips her hair over her shoulder. "He paid for the tour?"

"Yes, ma'am." The guide nods. "He also provided a bottle of champagne. However, I'm afraid he forgot to bring any glasses."

Caroline scoffs. "Oh, no. He didn't forget." Seeing the look on the tour guide's face, she smiles a little more gently. "He thinks that's our thing." She huffs out a breath and motions for the guide to precede her back to his carriage. "Lead the way."

When they step outside the iron fence, Caroline looks around searchingly at the carriages lining the curb. She stops in her tracks when she sees which one her tour guide climbs onto.

The coach is a simple four-seated barouche with a soft-top, its yellow color faded from age. Instead of a majestic horse, a sturdy mule is strapped into the harness. The worn seats are empty except for a silver ice bucket in one corner.

"This is not what I expected," she says as she climbs into the back and sits down on the squishy seat.

The driver looks over his shoulder with a smile. "Are you ready?"

Caroline shrugs and pulls the champagne bottle out of the bucket. She laughs when she realizes that the bottle is wrapped in a plastic bag. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Alright, then." The driver clucks his tongue and gives the reins a flick. "The first thing you'll notice is that my Madeleine here is not a horse, but in fact a very pretty mule."

Caroline rolls her eyes as she relaxes back into her seat and lets the prattle of the driver wash over her as they slowly roll down the street.

About ten minutes later, she is pulled out of her daze when the carriage lurches to a stop and her tour guide turns around with another envelope in hand.

"This is where things get a bit different." The driver looks a little uncomfortable. "See, your 'friend' gave me a stack of envelopes and this map." He holds up a map of New Orleans marked with black crosses in several spots. "It's mostly following the normal tour route, but I'm supposed to stop where those marks are and give you an envelope each time."

"Ah." Caroline frowns and her fingers tighten around the neck of the champagne bottle.

The driver tosses the map back on the seat, but keeps a hold of the letter in his hand. "Now, I've got no idea what's in these." He waggles the letter back and forth. "But I've got a daughter your age, so if they're way outta line, just say the word, dear, and I'll drop you off wherever you want to go, even the police station down on Royal, alright?"

Caroline's frown turns into a grateful smile at the driver's concern. "Thank you," she says, "But you really don't have to worry. The guy who gave you these wouldn't-" She pauses and looks down, her free hand reaching up to touch a spot low on her neck. When she looks back up at the driver, her gaze is wistful. She shakes it off and smiles confidently."Let's just say I can handle him."

The driver looks doubtful. "If you say so. I'll take your word for it." He hands her the first envelope.

Caroline takes it from his hands and opens it quickly, beginning to read the letter. The elegant script draws her in as much as the narrative on the page.

_When my siblings and I first came to the city of New Orleans it was little more than a muddy patch of land with a few ramshackle hovels along the banks of the Mississippi. Rebekah and Finn hated it while Kol cared only for the company of the countless loose women who had been deported here with the single purpose of evening out the female to male ratio of the population. But Elijah and myself saw the promise of a rich port city that could be the heart of this brave new world we found ourselves in. Of course, that meant dealing with the French, which in turn meant endless balls and soirees and brown nosing the local French Governor, Bienville. Would you believe me if I told you that the real architect of the Vieux Carre was none other than my beloved, bullheaded sister? Of course, being a woman, and considering she had to compel the officially commissioned engineer to get her way, she never got credit for it. _

Caroline laughs involuntarily and shakes her head. She keeps reading, becoming increasingly absorbed in the story unfolding on the pages in her hands.

The driver clucks his tongue and flicks the reins, signaling the mule to move on.

Over the next two hours, Caroline reads a dozen more letters. The intimate details of the history of New Orleans and Klaus Mikaelson are laid bare in front of her in sincere, sometimes thoughtless, narrative. By the time they have made their way to the Garden District the letters have taken her to the late nineteenth century.

_While Rebekah preferred the sugar plantation in the countryside, she understood the need for a home closer to the business district in the city. The mansion on St Charles Street is still there, but is now a charming little Bed and Breakfast. By the turn of the century, we had once again established ourselves as one of the leading families in New Orleans. There wasn't a social gathering without us present and we had our hands so deeply in the trade business that no one could bring anything into or out of the city of New Orleans without our knowledge or concord. It should have come as no surprise that this level of celebrity would draw our father's attention. Unfortunately, we'd all become careless due to our seemingly interminable success. I especially blame myself for becoming complacent after a couple of centuries without feeling Mikael's proverbial breath on the back of my neck. You asked me once whether I'd ever tried to talk it out with my father. To say that our relationship was complex was an understatement. In the interest of complete honesty I will tell you that there was never a chance to make peace with him. I was a constant reminder of my mother's infidelity and the reason for her bloody demise...the first time around. And I could never forgive him for driving me away from every home I'd ever known until things finally ended where they began in Mystic Falls. But back to New Orleans. As I said, those of us that remained had become complacent and as such the sudden appearance of Mikael took us all by surprise. Kol was the first to disappear into thin air. He whisked his favorite hooker at the time off her feet and was gone before Mikael could set foot off the boat. Rebekah stayed with me, packing for both of us and keeping me calm as we left in a hurry. And Elijah? My dear, hopeless, deeply moral brother decided to sacrifice himself to the lion in order to save the black sheep. _

Caroline unthinkingly wipes away a tear as she reads the heartbreaking details of Mikael's cruel descent upon his children. She shakes her head at the fact that his rampage was conveniently hidden among the last great outbreak of yellow fever in New Orleans. Hundreds had died and not all of them were vampires.

As they return to the French Quarter, slowly making their way down along the river, she receives one last letter. She opens it slowly with a somber expression on her face. Taking a deep breath, she starts to read.

_It would take a hundred years before I returned to this town. I will spare you the gory details of the decades in between. Suffice it to say that I tumbled through them alternately enraged and despairing, but constantly restless, trying to evade Mikael's deadly grasp. Even now, I sometimes wake up in a cold sweat, ready to run, convinced that he's found me. Until I remind myself that I killed him. I killed him, not the other way around. In any case, imagine my surprise when I finally came back to New Orleans, looking for a gaggle of witches conspiring against me, and found myself confronted with my former protege who, in my absence, had not only usurped my place as the king of this city, but had found a way to make the witches cower in fear before him. As if that wasn't enough, those very same witches decided I was their ticket out and tried to blackmail me, using my perceived weakness against me. I didn't believe them for a second when they claimed the child was mine. I was livid all the same. To be honest, I'm not sure what stopped me from killing them right then and there. I'd like to think it was your positive influence on me. I had no idea of the grander scheme at play, and I still wouldn't, if it wasn't for you. When you showed up out of the blue, I thought you'd heard my message and decided you'd let me show you the world, starting with my favorite place. For one perfect moment, I was so happy I thought I would burst. But then things went down hill rather quickly, as they are prone to do around me. I am not going to apologize for my one-night-stand with Hayley. I am not to blame for getting her pregnant, either, according to my brother and the old witch out on the bayou. I won't take responsibility for Katherine's wicked scheme, because I have enough to be sorry for without adding that to my rather long litany of wrong-doings. But please believe me that I never meant to hurt you in all this. You should know by now that there is no limit to what I would do for you, no line I wouldn't cross. All you have to do is ask. Whether you want to or not, someone who is capable of doing terrible things, a terrible person like me cares only about you. So I am asking you for forgiveness, not just in this instance, but for all the times that I have hurt you, and for every time in the future that I will inadvertently, inevitably do it again. _

_Yours for better or worse,_

_Klaus_

Caroline lowers the letter and looks up to see that they have stopped at the French Market, just across the street from Klaus's apartment. Her gaze inadvertently moves to the french doors on the third floor. The plantation type shutters are closed but their blades are tilted to allow air to pass through.

The driver turns around and clears his throat uncomfortably. "Now, um, you're supposed to let me know if you want to get off here, or have me take you back to the cathedral."

Caroline takes a shuddering breath. Her eyes are glued to the french door in the center. She opens her mouth to speak, then closes it again. She takes another slow breath and closes her eyes. "Take me back to the cathedral?"

The driver looks at her with furrowed brows, concern creasing his features. "Are you sure, honey?"

Caroline keeps her eyes closed as she shakes her head 'no' very slowly. "Yes."

"Alright." The driver turns back around and clucks his tongue. "Let's go Madeleine." He flicks the reins.

As the carriage lurches into motion, Caroline digs her fingers into the leather seat and holds her body perfectly still, breathing slowly, in and out again.


	23. Chapter 23

**"There's no such thing as a bad idea. Only poorly executed awesome ones." **

The moon shines through the large balcony doors into Rebekah's bedroom at the plantation. The table lamp on the vanity casts a soft light on Rebekah where she sits, scrutinizing her appearance in the mirror. She's wearing the yellow dress she found in the shop on Decatur Street.

Matt's reflection crosses his arms as he frowns deeply at her, leaning against one of the four posts of the enormous bed. "It's a really bad idea."

Rebekah ignores him as she puts on a pair of diamond earrings. The elegant studs complement the look of her hair gathered in a classic french twist.

Elijah steps up beside her, picking up the matching necklace from the table. "I have to agree with your suitor."

Matt's face scrunches up in distaste. "Can you stop using that word? You know my name, so you might as well use it."

Elijah raises an eyebrow at Matt with an arch look before he turns back to Rebekah. "In any case, I fail to see how this is going to aid our purpose."

Rebekah takes the delicate gold chain from Elijah's hand and fastens it around her neck. "If we're going to take on Marcel and those werewolves, we're going to need all the inside info we can get." She picks up a coral lipstick and applies it meticulously, then smacks her lips. "And since you and Klaus have pretty much burned all your bridges where Marcel is concerned, I'm the best person to do it."

"Be that as it may," Elijah says as he links his hands behind his back. "I don't think either of us feels comfortable sending you in alone."

"She won't be." Caroline appears in the door, dressed in a snugly fitting pastel green dress that is too short to be considered decent. Her hair is falling in soft curls around her face and her make up emphasizes the cold gleam in her eyes. "I'm going with her."

Matt huffs out a breath and looks to the ceiling with an expression of complete exasperation. "Oh, this is a really, really bad idea."

Elijah gives Caroline's outfit a sweeping glance, his eyebrows raising as his gaze trails from the hemline of her dress down to the extremely high heels on her feet. When he looks back up at her face his expression is curious and skeptical. "Is my brother aware of your intentions?"

Caroline scoffs as she brushes her hair over her shoulder and raises her chin defiantly. "I don't see how it's any of his business."

"Ah," Elijah voices monotonously. "I see."

Caroline ignores the comment and looks around Elijah at Rebekah. "Are you ready?"

Rebekah double checks her appearance in the mirror one more time before she slides out of the bench and grabs her clutch from the table. When she reaches the door, she gives Caroline's outfit a critical once over and nods in satisfaction. "They won't know what hit them."

**The Karaoke bar that serves as Marcel's headquarters is already gathering a mixed crowd** of tourists, locals and vampires when Rebekah and Caroline enter through the open doors arm in arm. The girls draw the attention of a few of the male patrons as they slowly make their way to the bar. Caroline and Rebekah focus immediately on their main target.

Marcel is up on stage, hamming it up for the crowd with a Sinatra classic. As he proclaims to have 'the world on a string', he crooks his fingers and throws flirtatious glances at the ladies in the crowd.

Rebekah takes it all in with a bored look before she leans towards Caroline. "You distract Marcel, I'll try to get some info out of one of the lackeys," she says in a voice low enough that only Caroline can hear.

Caroline's bottom lip immediately pushes out in a pout as her brows scrunch up. "Why do I always have to be the distraction for the megalomaniac psychopath?" she asks in a harsh whisper.

Rebekah gives her a patronizing look underneath one sharply raised eyebrow. "Because you're new and shiny, and megalomaniac psychopaths have a tendency to lose their better judgment around you." She smiles sharply as her eyes glint with steel.

Caroline's eyes gleam just as fiercely as she returns the bright, sharp edged smile. "Fine."

"Great." Rebekah's smile amps up another notch as she steps away from Caroline and starts to scan the crowd for her victim. "Let's go."

**The cabin out by the bayou is quiet** when Elijah steps into the open space that makes up the kitchen and main room of the small home. Only a few lamps are on to light the inside and there is a small fire glowing in the hearth.

Mama Reynaud is behind the stove. "I expected your return sooner, vampire," she greets him without turning around.

Elijah pulls himself up taller. "There were some unexpected matters that needed to be addressed." He pauses for a moment, eyebrows crunched in consternation before he collects himself and moves towards the door leading into the single bedroom of the cabin. "Where is Hayley?"

Mama Reynaud makes a disgruntled noise in her throat. "Exactly where you left her. She's asleep."

Elijah nods and quietly opens the door, taking a quick look into the bedroom.

Hayley is sleeping fitfully on the bed, drenched in sweat. Her belly is hugely extended underneath the blanket she has pulled up to her chest.

Elijah retreats with a deep frown on his face. "She's not doing well. I thought the medicine was supposed to help her."

Mama Reynaud throws a toe of garlic into the large pot and braces her hands on the edge of the stove with gusto as she sucks in a deep breath. "The medicine is helping, but that doesn't change the fact that the monster inside her is sucking the life right out of her." When she turns to face Elijah, her face is grim. "At least, it won't be much longer now."

**Back at the karaoke bar, the locals and tourists have taken over **the stage, vying for a place in the spotlight as they butcher songs from the current and past top charts.

Rebekah is surrounded by two of Marcel's goons in a corner booth, alternately doing shots and fending off their grabby hands.

The one on her right slides his arm around Rebekah as he leans into her. "And after they got the witches, they went straight for our compound up behind the cemetery."

"No way," Rebekah says with large doe eyes. Before the wandering hand can get within an inch of her breast, she smacks it hard, nearly knocking the daylight ring off his middle finger. She leans forward to dislodge the arm and takes another shot.

"Yes, way." The other goon, sitting across from her, snickers at his friend and takes a shot for himself. "Killed at least a dozen witches in the cemetery and then probably twenty or so of our vamps in that one nest."

His grabby friend makes a face. "Dude, we don't call 'em that. We're not animals. It's a compound."

On the other side of the bar, Marcel is too absorbed in conversation to care what is happening in the corner booth. He has a besotted smile on his face as he looks at his pretty blonde companion, listening intently to what she is saying.

Caroline is animatedly spinning her story. "So I told him, 'if you need anything else, don't call me. I have a prom to plan'."

Marcel furrows his brows in disbelief, but the smile is still on his face. "You're telling me that you told off Niklaus Mikaelson, and lived to tell the tale?"

"Well, he didn't have anyone else to help pull the splinters out of his back." She shrugs. "And I'm sure it helped that I'm really cute."

Marcel's voice takes on a more seductive tone. "You are really cute." He picks up his glass from the bar and starts to take a drink.

Caroline braces her chin on her hand and looks him deeply in the eyes with a contemplative expression on her face. "Are you imagining me naked right now?"

Marcel almost chokes on his drink. He quickly catches himself and wipes his thumb over his lips to catch any stray drops. "Now that you mentioned it..." He trails off as his eyes roam suggestively down her body.

Caroline flashes a superior smile. "Now, now." She gently nudges his face back up with one finger under his chin. "If you want to take that close of a look, you should at least buy me another drink."

His eyes narrow with an amused grin as he hums low in his throat. "As you wish." Without breaking eye contact, Marcel raises his hand to signal the bartender to refill her drink. "I have to admit, I am curious."

Her smile brightens even more as she blinks a couple of times and leans forward. "About what?"

He picks up his drink again and swirls the ice around in his glass. "The last time we met, you were pretty adamant that I'm not your type." His smirk is accompanied by a sharp glint in his eyes. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

Caroline twitches involuntarily and her hand moves away from bracing her chin to fidget with the hem of her skirt. She chews on her lip and looks up at Marcel under hooded lashes. "Back then I thought Klaus and I had something special." Her bottom lip pushes out in a wobbly pout as she raises watery eyes. "I was wrong."

"Ah," Marcel says, shifting uncomfortably as he sits back a little on his bar stool.

Caroline sniffs and quickly wipes a finger under both eyes, going back to the sunny smile she wore just moments ago. "So, screw him." She picks up her drink. "If I'm going to have a casual fling, I prefer to be out in the open about it from the get go." She places one hand on Marcel's arm, gently grazing her fingers over his skin. "And you strike me as the type of man who likes things casual and out in the open."

**In the main room of the cabin,** both Elijah and Mama Reynaud are sitting at the dining table. Neither of them looks at the other as he sits stiffly with his back to the wall and she slowly places tarot cards in a growing pattern on the table.

Elijah's brows twitch upward as he watches her place the next card. It depicts a shrouded rider on a skeletal horse, and 'La Mort' is written across the bottom. "Death," he says monotonously as his eyes wander towards the bedroom.

"Change," Mama corrects him as she lays down another card, and another. "It's not this one I'm worried about." She taps the 'Death' card with two fingers. "It's this one." She moves her hand to the card showing a burning tower, then flips over another card. "And this one." She taps her fingers over the depiction of a bleeding man skewered by swords from neck to hip.

"What do they mean?" Elijah asks quietly.

"They talk of sacrifice, betrayal, and defeat." She shakes her head and gathers the cards together, throwing them down in frustration. As she looks down, there is one card face up. She picks up the card and sighs. "And above all, they insist that this is only the beginning."

Elijah straightens his back and looks down his nose at the witch. "I won't let my family's fate be decided by the ominous predictions of some silly picture cards."

Mama Reynaud looks at him calmly as she gathers her cards once again and puts them away. "We don't always have a choice in the circumstances life presents us with."

Outside, the loud baying cry of a wolf signaling his pack rings through the night. It is quickly echoed by the response of another, the cries getting louder as more and more voices join in the call.

Elijah jolts up in his seat and quickly moves towards the window. "What the..."

Hayley screams at the top of her lungs. The sound drowns out the rest of his sentence and rises above the howling of the wolves outside.

Elijah dashes across the small space at vampire speed, barely able to stop as he collides with the side of the bed. He reaches for Hayley's hand, trying to get her attention.

Hayley is wide awake and drenched in sweat, staring back at him in blind terror. The sheets around her are soaked in blood. "The baby!" She gasps and a strangled scream twists in her throat. "It's coming."

Elijah looks up to see the pale face of Mama Reynaud in the doorway. "I need to call my family."

The howling of the wolves gets louder, surrounding them.

Mama nods her head. "Tell them to hurry."


	24. Chapter 24

Just a quick note, I had to bump the rating of this fiction to M because of the following chapter. I know that I have previously had some pretty violent scenes in this story, but this one goes a little beyond previous descriptions. Again the M is for violence and gore. Not yet for sexual situations. I will also warn you when that comes up. Thank you so much for all your continued support and feedback. Enjoy! And as always: No fowl, no harm.

~!~

**"If you come after my brother, I will rip you apart."**

The noise and hubbub of the crowd fade into the background as Caroline and Marcel exchange a lingering glance, neither of them willing to break eye contact first.

"While I don't mind being out in the open, I have to admit I prefer more intimate settings." Marcel gently picks up her hand and starts to play with her fingers. "For example, I have this nice little suite at the Hotel Royal..." He leaves the sentence unfinished as he starts to bring her hand to his lips.

Caroline watches him wide-eyed, breathing shallowly as she keeps her body perfectly still. She jumps in her seat when an elegant, pale hand suddenly wraps around her wrist.

Rebekah completely ignores Marcel as she focuses on Caroline. "Caroline, we have to go." She pulls on Caroline's hand and drags the girl out of her seat. "Now."

Caroline stumbles out of the bar stool, but Rebekah is pulling her forward with so much force that she doesn't get the chance to fall. "Rebekah, what..."

Marcel watches with a perplexed expression as the two blondes disappear in a blur of vampire speed, heedless of the crowd surrounding them.

**Once they are tearing down the highway in Rebekah's Porsche **Caroline gets the chance to finish her question. "What the hell is going on?"

Rebekah's face is pale and fraught with concern. "The bloody wolves are circling my brother and he's by himself."

"Klaus?" Caroline gasps as she jolts forward and grabs on to her seat.

"Elijah!" Rebekah takes her eyes off the road just long enough to glare at Caroline. "He's out there with the bitch and the wolves are coming for the bloody baby."

Caroline watches the needle of the speedometer rise to 95 and chews on her lip. "I thought werewolf bites couldn't kill you guys."

Rebekah sucks in a breath through her nose, nostrils flaring as she presses her lips together. "The bites won't, but it's a damn pack of them. They can tear him limb from limb until there's nothing left to put back together." Her grip tightens around the steering wheel until her knuckles turn white.

Caroline's eyes widen with realization as she stares at Rebekah's stricken face. She blinks quickly and grabs on tighter to her seat. "Step on it."

The needle on the speedometer clears 100 miles per hour.

**When they come to a skidding halt on the muddy grounds outside the cabin **everything around them is eerily quiet. There are no birds in the trees and nothing rustles in the underbrush. The only sound is the clicking of the Porsche's engine as it slowly begins to cool down.

Rebekah tears out of the car and leaves the door open in her haste to run up to the rickety house. "No!" she says breathlessly as she runs past drying puddles of blood on the ground.

Caroline is right behind Rebekah. Her brows furrow as her gaze follows the trail of blood up the stairs. "Rebekah, wait!"

Rebekah doesn't listen. She rips the torn screen door completely off its hinges the moment she reaches the top of the stairs.

Caroline flinches as the screen door lands on the porch with a loud clang. She looks around quickly but nothing happens, so she follows Rebekah up the stairs.

"No, no, no." Rebekah shakes her head. The handle of the front door is broken and huge bloodstained claw marks are gouged into the wood.

"Shit!" Rebekah sobs as she slips on a large puddle of blood right inside the entrance. "Please, no."

Caroline takes a shuddering breath as she follows Rebekah past the front door. She bites her bottom lip as she looks around at all the blood and broken furniture in the main room. There are blackened, ugly stains and indiscernible bits of bloody gook all over the place.

Rebekah is already halfway towards the single bedroom on the other side of the cabin. "Elijah!?"

Caroline doesn't run after her, hesitating at the island between the stove and the dining table. As her gaze roams around the ugly scene, tears start to form in her eyes. She starts to move when something catches her attention. Her eyes go wide and her mouth drops open when she recognizes the huddled form tucked behind the counter.

Elijah's hair is matted to his head, slick with blood. His face is bruised and swollen, and his neck and arms are covered in festering werewolf bites. His shirt and slacks are torn to shreds and smeared with blood. A wooden chair leg is protruding from the center of his chest. Despite all that, the fingers of his right hand are curled tightly around a bloody human heart.

"Rebekah!" Caroline's voice rings with panic as she kneels down in front of Elijah's slumped body. Her hands are shaking as they hover over him. Caroline takes a deep breath and grasps the makeshift stake firmly with both hands. She holds her breath as she yanks it out and throws it across the floor.

Elijah doesn't even flinch. His body slumps over onto itself as his head lolls to the side, blood trickling from his swollen lips.

"Elijah?" Caroline's voice breaks as she leans closer and hesitantly reaches out towards him.

His empty hand shoots upwards and he grabs her tightly by the throat before he slowly cracks his eyes open to stare at her with an unfocused glare.

Caroline's hands fly up too late to defend herself. "Elijah." She circles his wrist with both hands, trying to pull him away from her throat so she can speak. "It's me!" She wheezes, trying to suck in a breath. "It's Caroline."

Elijah's eyes slowly focus and he loosens his grip around her throat. "Caroline." His voice is raspy and he coughs up more blood. Finally, he blinks slowly and shakes his head to clear it. When he looks at her again his glare is cold and focused. He drops his hand from her throat, balling it into a fist. "Where's Hayley?"

Caroline opens her mouth to answer, but is shoved out of the way before she can say anything.

"Oh my god, you're alive!" Rebekah hurls herself at her brother and hugs him tightly, uncaring that she is getting blood all over her bright new dress. "I thought for sure I was too late."

Caroline stares at the scene, gaping at the siblings from where she sits in the middle of another puddle of thick, dark blood.

Elijah groans something inaudible before he drops the bloody heart from his hand and carefully returns the hug. "Hurts."

"Sorry." Rebekah pulls back immediately but her hands continue to hover over Elijah's face and arms. "Damn, they got you good." Her forehead wrinkles with a deep frown as she makes a face at the oozing bites on his neck and arms.

The roaring of a car engine echoes from outside, followed by the slam of a car door and rapid steps approaching the house.

Rebekah makes a grab for the stake on the floor without hesitation.

Caroline is already crouched on her feet and reaching for a knife on the counter above her head.

Elijah tries to summon the energy to shift into a fighting position.

The intruder stops right in the doorway and sucks in a deep, lingering breath.

"Elijah!?" Klaus's voice echoes through the house. "Rebekah, Caroline! Where are you?"

All three breathe a sigh and sag against the furniture at their back in relief as the tension drains from their bodies.

Caroline is the first to speak. "We're here!" She drops her knife-hand to the floor. "We're okay." Her gaze trails over Elijah. "Mostly."

Klaus takes the few steps to the counter at a jog and skids to a halt with raised brows as he takes in the sight of Elijah, Rebekah and Caroline on the floor, all of them drenched in blood and holding on to makeshift weapons. "What the bloody hell happened?"

Elijah groans and pulls himself into a more upright position against the counter. "Werewolves," he says curtly. "Where's Hayley?" He grabs Rebekah's arm and looks towards the bedroom. "And the baby?" He coughs and spits out a mouthful of blood. "Are they alright?"

"I'll go check on them." Klaus rolls his eyes as he takes a deep breath. "You'd think the spawn was yours."

Caroline's jaw drops at the comment before she narrows her eyes in a fierce glare.

Klaus ducks his head to avoid looking at her as he quickly moves past her towards the bedroom.

Rebekah turns away and holds out her wrist in front of Elijah's face. "Here, drink some. At least until we can find you someone to eat."

"Show some tact, please," Elijah admonishes her but takes the offered wrist at the same time.

Caroline turns away and gets up to walk over to the bedroom. She takes a few steps before she ends up staring at Klaus's back.

He is blocking the view into the room with his body, one hand braced on the doorjamb as his other holds on to the handle. "I don't think you should see this."

"Oh, please." Caroline huffs sarcastically and rolls her eyes. She squares her shoulders and firmly wraps one hand around Klaus's bicep, giving it a sharp tug.

Klaus doesn't budge so much as an inch. His feet are firmly planted on the ground as he looks down at her over his shoulder, not quite meeting her eyes.

Caroline loses her temper. "Will you knock it off? I'm the one who just got done pulling a stake out of your brother's heart! I think I can take whatever is in there."

Klaus removes his hand from the doorjamb without a word and lets her move past him into the room, stepping directly behind her as she passes.

When Caroline finally gets an unobstructed view of the bed she goes wide-eyed and sways dizzily on her feet. She nearly faints until she is stopped by the presence of a solid body behind her.

Klaus is right at her back, holding her upright with both hands on her arms. He supports most of her weight as she leans heavily against him. He slowly hooks his chin over her shoulder and gently calls her name.

Hayley's body is sprawled across the bed, her arms and legs twisted at odd angles. The naked limbs are pale, almost gray where they aren't smeared with blood. Her fingers are twisted into the sheets, holding on with an iron grip. Her mouth is gaping in a silent scream, her eyes ripped wide open in terror as they stare unseeingly towards the ceiling. Her stomach is split wide open, a bloody mess of bowels spilling from it. A huge stain of ugly reddish brown spreads out from between her legs, drowning out the crisp white color of the sheets still visible around the edges.

Caroline can't stop staring at the grotesque image on the bed. She blinks slowly, absentmindedly, her lips slightly parted as she breathes slowly and shallowly.

"Caroline, Caroline!" Klaus forcibly turns her around to look at him. He places both hands on her cheeks and tries to make her meet his eyes. "Snap out of it."

Caroline sucks in a full breath and breaks away from Klaus to dash for the sink. She retches and dry heaves, but nothing comes out. Her whole body is shaking as she braces herself against the sink.

Elijah drops Rebekah's wrist and looks first at Caroline then at Klaus with a stern frown. "What is it?"

Klaus presses his lips together as he continues to look at Caroline with concern but doesn't move any closer to her.

Rebekah sighs and helps Elijah off the floor as she gets up. "The bi..." She stops and clears her throat. "Hayley is dead. And there's no sign of the witch or the baby."

Elijah's eyes instantly flash with fury and he storms towards the bedroom. He takes one look at the scene and his expression grows cold. He straightens to his full height and squares his shoulders, closing the bedroom door behind him with a quiet click. "They will not get away with this."

Caroline shakes her head, still trembling as she looks up from the sink with wet eyes, meeting Elijah's gaze. "This...they..." She frowns and wipes tears from her eyes, searching for the right words. "Hayley didn't deserve this."

Rebekah sighs and sags back against the island, bracing her hands behind her on the counter top. "You know what that means for us." She turns her head to look over at Klaus.

Klaus is still by the door to the bedroom. He looks back and forth between Elijah and Caroline for a moment before he turns his eyes on Rebekah. "It means we're officially at war." The smile that accompanies his statement is entirely devoid of humor.


	25. Chapter 25

Fair warning, this chapter focuses on secondary characters. Who all likes the potential of Marcel and Cami, show of hands? *raises hand*. As always: no fowl, no harm. :-)

~!~

"**I never waste an opportunity for a show of force."**

The karaoke bar is filling up as the night wears on, tourists and locals streaming in and out in an endless supply of fresh blood. Marcel has joined his inner circle near the stage where they pulled together three tables to make room for all of them.

Marcel sits at the head of the table, comfortably sprawled in his chair as he looks over his followers. He takes his time perusing the crowd, one arm braced casually behind him on the backrest of his chair. His lips are curled in a subtle, contemplative smile.

One of the day-walkers who talked to Rebekah keeps shooting furtive glances in Marcel's direction down the table. His fingers are wrapped loosely around a half-empty bottle of beer, peeling at the label with his thumb.

Marcel watches him intermittently for a few minutes. He can't help but grin every time the other man flinches to avert his gaze. Finally, Marcel slams his fist on the table and leans forward in his seat. "Spit it out, Jamie." He pins the younger vampire with his glare. "Whatever it is. Because it's starting to look like you've got a crush on me."

Jamie grabs his bottle more firmly and moves towards the head of the table towards Marcel. "I was just wondering if you knew the chicks at the bar earlier. You know, the two blondes?"

Marcel's brows furrow as he looks at Jamie. "Caroline and Rebekah?" His eyes narrow in suspicion. "Why?"

"I figured you might have Rebekah's number?" Jamie takes another drink from his bottle, looking uncomfortable. "I didn't get a chance to ask for it."

Marcel sits up straight, cocking his head to the side as he starts to play with the daylight ring on his finger. "You talked to Rebekah?"

Jamie nods, pulling up a chair to sit down. "Yeah, while you were at the bar with that other one, she and I were having a good time, doing shots and stuff. But then she got a phone call and tore out of here like a bat outta hell."

Marcel arches a brow, then leans forward in his seat to place one hand heavily on Jamie's arm. "And just what were you two love-birds talking about?"

**The Deveraux's is filled to capacity** by the time Marcel slips past the two large bouncers at the entrance doors that weren't there the night before. There's at least one new waitress among the crowd and a burly middle-aged guy has replaced the usual face behind the counter next to Cami.

Marcel subtly scans the newcomers' faces before he walks over to the bar and raises his hand to get Cami's attention.

Cami notices the movement and finishes up with the customer in front of her before she comes over to Marcel. "What will it be?"

"Bourbon," he says with a smile. "New coworker?" He raises one eyebrow in question and cocks his head in the direction of the other bartender.

Cami shrugs dismissively, but she glances quickly between the guy and the bouncers at the door. "We've had a few new hires."

Marcel hums in his throat as he watches Cami pour his drink. "I'm here to see your boss. Is she around?" he asks, already turning to face the back of the restaurant. His brows jump up when he sees that the screen doors to the kitchen are closed. "That's new," he drawls under his breath.

Cami ignores another customer in favor of wiping down the counter in front of Marcel. "She's in the kitchen with the new chef," she says before she leans closer. "Maybe you should come back some other day." The suggestion is accompanied by a pointed look under raised brows as Cami purses her lips.

Marcel swivels back around in his seat to pick up his glass. "And why would I do that?"

Cami's eyes flicker towards the other bartender again. "Because my shift's almost over and I'd like you to walk me home," she says bluntly.

Marcel's eyes narrow in suspicion but the smile on his face is full of charm. "Well, how could I ever refuse when you ask me like that?" He knocks back his drink and places the empty glass on the counter upside down.

**A short while later they are ambling down one of the less crowded streets **of the French Quarter away from Bourbon.

Marcel's hands are folded behind his back as he walks next to Cami, letting her set the pace. "So, what was that all about?" He cocks his head back in the direction of the Deveraux's.

Cami presses her lips together and shoves her hands into the front pockets of her tight jeans. "I'm not sure. But something's off." Her brows furrow deeply even as her shoulders roll in a casual shrug. "I think it'd be a good idea if you stayed away for a while."

Marcel arches an eyebrow as his lips twitch with an amused smile. "You think you can get rid of me that easily?"

"Look." Cami stops walking as she whirls around. "They have it in for you." She leans closer and lowers her voice. "I heard them talking about you in the kitchen."

His eyes widen in surprise before he schools his features into a blank mask. "Go on."

She sighs in exasperation and starts walking again. "The new chef is asking Sophie all sorts of questions about you." She shakes her head. "I'm surprised they didn't jump you the moment you walked in."

Marcel nods, his hands falling loosely to his sides. "That would explain a lot." He smiles as he casually moves one arm to wrap it around Cami's shoulder. "For example, why we're being followed."

Cami stumbles over her own steps as her eyes go wide but she recovers quickly, throwing Marcel's arm off her shoulder as she keeps walking. "Watch it pal!" she says loudly. Her body tenses up and her hands stay at her sides, balled into fists. "What did you get me into?" she whispers harshly.

He shrugs one shoulder as his head cocks to the side with a chagrined smile. "Sorry?" His chin jerks up at the sound of heavy boots landing on a metal dumpster in the alley a block behind them. Marcel's expression grows cold as his shoulders tense, ready for a fight. "Get ready to run."

"I don't think so." Cami keeps walking, her breathing becoming shallower as her eyes flit back and forth, scanning her surroundings. "I'm not some damsel you have to protect."

Marcel rolls his eyes. "You have no idea what you're dealing with." He turns around, placing himself between Cami and the footsteps he can hear coming towards them.

The guy that steps out of the darkness is tall, lean and looks pretty young. Shaggy dark hair hangs over his eyes, hiding them from view. He slowly walks towards them, shoulders hunched and hands curled loosely at his sides. "Are you Marcel?"

Marcel squares his shoulders and clenches his fists as he stares the other man down. "Who wants to know?"

The younger man smiles as he slowly raises his head and quickens his steps. "I thought so." He breaks into a run and launches himself at Marcel straight on.

Marcel crouches in preparation to dodge the obvious move and ready to counter it. His brows furrow at the confident look on the other guy's face.

His opponent grins as he leaps into the air. His body twists grotesquely, muscles and bones crunching as they shift in mid air, tearing denim and cotton as easily as paper.

Cami rears back with a scream as she watches the large black wolf collide with Marcel at full speed.

Marcel throws his arms up in defense as the animal knocks him to the ground. His fingers dig into the coarse fur at its neck, barely keeping the razor-sharp fangs away from his face.

The beast growls and snaps, drool dripping from its gaping maw. Its heavy paws push threateningly on Marcel's shoulders, claws digging in, forcibly keeping its prey down.

Marcel roars as he pushes the wolf off him. He throws the beast with all his strength, sending a hundred pounds of muscle and fur hurtling towards the nearest wall.

The animal hits the wall with a sickening crunch and a pained, broken yelp before it falls to the ground with a heavy thud.

Marcel quickly gets to his feet, shouting blindly over his shoulder. "Cami, run!" He whirls back around just in time to see the wolf get back on its feet.

Cami's eyes are wide with panic, but she jolts into motion, starting to run as fast as she can.

The wolf growls at Marcel before its head snaps up to stare past him. It pushes itself into a leaping run, tail rising high as it gives chase after Cami.

"Shit!" Marcel bursts into vampire speed. He throws himself on top of the wolf, grabbing for its legs. His fingers dig into fur and skin. They go down hard, Marcel landing on top.

As they hit the ground, the wolf shifts back into human form. In the blink of an eye, the dark haired man's fist connects with Marcel's jaw in a powerful punch, sending him reeling. The werewolf uses the split-second to dig his knees into the vampire's stomach and vault him up over his head.

Marcel comes crashing down on his back. The impact knocks the wind out of him, giving his opponent the chance to get on top.

The werewolf crouches over Marcel, pinning his body to the ground as he rains down punches with both fists.

Marcel dodges as much as he can. The first punch to the mouth splits his lip and his fangs drop as the veins around his eyes intensify. Marcel takes a few more hits to the face, trying to get his hands around his assailant's neck.

The werewolf is drunk with victory, laughing dementedly as he keeps landing punch after punch, alternating between his left and right fist. The unexpected blow of a two-by-four from behind snaps his head forward. His eyes go wide as his arms flail uselessly.

Marcel seizes the moment to wrap his fingers around the werewolf's head and snaps his neck with a fast, clean twist. He drops the naked body to the side and looks up at his unexpected ally. "Are you crazy?"

Cami is breathing heavily, still clutching the dirty two-by-four in one hand as she looks down at Marcel on the ground. "What the hell was that?" She tosses the wood aside where it lands with a clatter.

"Hybrid." Marcel growls under his breath before he pushes himself to his feet and brushes off the dirt. "They're a nasty kind of werewolf that gets to change shape whenever they want."

"Hybrid? Werewolves?" She shakes her head and laughs incredulously. "And what are you supposed to be?"she asks. "A vampire?"

Marcel wipes a hand over his split lip and spits out the blood in his mouth before he steps closer to the nearest street lamp. He sniffs and purposely puts his game-face on as he turns to look at Cami. "What do you think, cheri?" he asks with a smile, fangs gleaming in the light of the gas lamp above him.

Cami steps closer, shaking her head in denial even as she reaches up a hand towards his face. "Maybe you're just a freak with an exceptional dental plan?" She pokes the tip of one long incisor with her index finger, fascinated, until she pricks her skin. "Ow." She takes her finger back and sucks it into her mouth. "Or maybe not," she says around her mouthful.

Marcel looks back at her with a fond, but exasperated expression on his face. "I still don't know if you're just that brave, or really, really dumb."

Cami's eyes narrow. "I'll have you know, I'm currently working on my graduate degree in Psychology."

**They spend the rest of the walk to Cami's apartment in silence.** Marcel hangs back at the bottom of the steps as Cami jogs up to the door and unlocks it. "Do you want to-"

"No!" Marcel is right in front of her with a burst of vampire speed.

Cami shouts in surprise, stumbling backwards into her apartment as she gapes at him in confusion.

Marcel raises one hand and holds it out against the empty space between the doorposts. "No matter how old, or how powerful," he says quietly as he leans on the invisible barrier separating them. "A vampire can never enter a person's home without their invitation."

Cami's brows furrow as she steps closer to the door. She brings up her hand and places her palm flat against Marcel's. "Why are you telling me this?" Her eyes search his for an answer.

"Because I want you to be able to protect yourself from my kind," he says honestly, his hand still pressed firmly against the barrier. "And this is the best way to do it."

Cami nods in understanding and looks at their hands that seem to be touching. "And what's the best way to protect myself from a werewolf?" She looks back up at Marcel's face with a challenging smirk.

Marcel swallows thickly. His face is drawn tight in worry, his lips pressed together in an angry line. "There is none."

Cami snorts. "Come on, there has to be something. We were able to take out that guy-"

"No." Marcel shakes his head with an angry frown. "We were lucky he was young, dumb and showing off." He brings his other arm up to brace against the barrier above his head as he looks down at her sternly. "And he was alone. They usually travel in packs."

Cami pulls her hand back to cross her arms in front of her chest. She raises her chin defiantly, but a slight tremble in her voice gives her away. "That almost sounds like you're afraid of them."

Marcel's eyes narrow dangerously. "I'm not scared of a bunch of mangy mutts." He bangs his fist against the barrier and bows his head with a determined scowl. "I've driven them out of my city before, I can do it again." He straightens up and steps back from the barrier, hands dropping at his sides. "So, let me worry about them. You just make sure to stay safely out of the way."

A sour expression crosses Cami's face at the demand. "I don't react well to threats."

Marcel sighs and steps closer again. "I'm not threatening you. I'm asking you. For the sake of your safety, and my sanity."

Her eyes flicker back and forth, taking in his sincere expression before she nods. "I'll think about it."

"Good." Marcel grins confidently at her before he leans down to whisper confidentially. "It's okay to invite me in now."

Cami raises one eyebrow skeptically as she cocks her head to the side. She pretends to think about it for a second before she shakes her head. "Nah, I don't think so. But thanks for walking me home."

"What?" Marcel looks completely dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open in shock as he bounces off the barrier trying to reach after her. "Wait a minute, you-"

"Good night, Marcel," she says with a laugh as she closes the door in his face.

Marcel stares at the closed door with a stunned expression. Then he blinks, laughs and shakes his head. "Yeah, girl's got it bad for me." He chuckles to himself as he jogs down the steps and disappears into the night.


	26. Chapter 26

I am sorry for the long delay. This chapter was a bitch. I had to rewrite it several times. In addition to that, I found out that I had forgotten a very important bit of canon that was integral to my plans for the plot. So I got into an argument with myself. I lost and had to change my plans. No one was happy. Especially not Elijah, or Caroline. But it is what it is. See, I thought I could skirt the whole Tyler issue, just sweep it under the carpet and not bring it up at all. Apparently so did Caroline. I guess we were wrong. Well, I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think. As always, no fowl, now harm.

~!~

"**We stick together as one. Always and forever." **

When the Porsche rolls to a stop in front of the plantation house just before dawn, all the lights are on in the entrance hall.

Rebekah flies out of the driver's seat to open the door in the back before anyone else has the chance to take off their seat-belts.

Caroline gets out of the passenger side and closes her door, hovering beside the car as she watches Klaus and Elijah slowly climb out of the back.

Matt throws open the front door before they make it to the stairs. He takes one look at them and his brows furrow deeply over his nose. "I knew this was a bad idea!" He pulls Rebekah in as soon as she's within reach. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Rebekah closes her eyes as she is enveloped in a crushing hug. "I'm fine." Off of Matt's look at her bloodstained dress she rolls her eyes. "It's not my blood." She fends off his arms to glance back over her shoulder and her expression turns cold.

Elijah is struggling to stay on his feet, leaning heavily on Klaus.

"Take him to my old room," she tells Klaus. Her voice brooks no argument."They'll be staying with us," she tells Matt in the same tone before she brushes past him into the house and storms off towards the servant quarters. "Maria!"

Matt flinches as her shout reverberates through the marble foyer. He turns his attention to the rest of the group. "What happened?" he asks again as he closes the front door behind them.

Klaus and Elijah ignore him completely and trudge on towards the grand staircase.

Caroline takes a stuttering breath as she combs her hair back from her face. "Werewolves." Her hands are shaking. "They got the baby." Her eyes flit back and forth, avoiding Matt's gaze. "Hayley's dead." Her voice cracks over the word as tears start to fall.

"Shit." Matt pulls her into a bear hug and holds on tight.

Caroline sags against him, buries her face in his chest and grabs fistfuls of the shirt at his back. Her whole body shakes as she takes a sobbing breath.

Matt rests his chin on the top of her head and rocks her gently, rubbing one hand soothingly over her back as he hums comforting noises into her hair.

When she comes up for air, her cheeks are a little damp. "Elijah's hurt badly." She wipes her face and puts on a determined expression. "He's going to need blood. A lot of it."

Matt nods and lets go of her with a last comforting rub to her shoulders. "There's plenty in the fridge." He sneers in distaste but then schools his expression into indifference. "I'll go get it. You go on ahead," he says calmly as he cocks his head in the direction of the stairs behind him.

**Once Elijah is put to bed in his old room, **Caroline and Matt give the Mikaelson siblings some privacy**. **Klaus and Rebekah stay behind to force-feed their older brother several glasses of Klaus's blood while Klaus helps himself to the blood-bags from the fridge.

The house is quiet when they finally step out into the hallway.

Klaus puts on his jacket and starts to leave, taking a couple quick steps in the direction of the stairs.

Rebekah bursts into vampire speed to block his path with a hand to his chest. "Stay."

He sucks in a sharp breath and cocks his head to glare at his baby-sister. "I've done all I can do. There's no reason to hang around."

Rebekah's expression hardens as she crosses her arms over her chest. "I'm not letting you leave."

Klaus suppresses a smirk before he looks down his nose at her. "Do you really think you can boss me around, just because..."

"Nik, please!" Rebekah's voice is shrill and her face is starting to crumple. "For once in your life, will you just..."

"What?" Klaus pulls himself to his full height as he narrows his eyes at her. His nostrils flare as a muscle in his jaw twitches.

Rebekah's eyes go wide and start to brim with tears as she tightens her arms around her chest. "We almost lost him tonight, because we weren't there." She glances towards the door to Elijah's bedroom. "I can't... I need us to stay together. At least until all this is over." Her eyes plead with Klaus, her lips trembling, until she presses them tightly together.

Klaus stays silent for a long moment as he looks at her with a blank expression on his face. Finally, he huffs out a breath. He ignores Rebekah's flinch as he lays his hand on the back of her neck and pulls her close to press a firm kiss to her forehead. "Always and forever." He mutters the words between them before he releases her.

Rebekah's shoulders sag with relief and her tightly crossed arms loosen a little as she smiles shakily at her big brother. "Thank you, Nik."

Klaus shrugs it off with a grumbling noise in his throat and turns around to head in the opposite direction of the stairs. "Let me know if he needs anything."

Rebekah nods and watches Klaus walk away as she puts her hand on the knob to Elijah's door. Her mouth drops open before Klaus makes it around the corner. "Oh, Nik!"

Klaus pauses and looks back with an exasperated grunt. "What?"

Rebekah bites her bottom lip and looks at him with big doe eyes. "You'll have to pick a different room."

His eyes narrow as his jaw stiffens. "Why?"

Rebekah tucks in her chin and her brows are furrowed with an apologetic expression, but a smirk twitches at the corner of her mouth. "Because Caroline took yours."

Klaus does a slack-jawed double take. He closes his eyes, turns his face to the ceiling and sucks in a deep breath before he drops his head back down with an explosive sigh. His fists are clenched at his sides as he disappears around the corner without another word.

**It's late in the morning by the time they come together in the formal dining room. **Breakfast is a mixture of coffee, orange juice and bagged blood with a side of bacon and eggs.

Elijah still looks worn out from fighting the werewolf venom in his system, but the bruises and bite marks have already faded. He sits at Rebekah's left with a glass of blood in his hand, not bothering with the pretense of food.

Klaus is slouched on the chair next to him, chewing on a strip of bacon dipped in blood and studiously ignoring Caroline's intense stare from across the table.

Matt is the only one with a plate in front of him, picking at the last few bits of scrambled eggs. He shakes his head and looks disdainfully at Klaus and Elijah. "You guys were around during World War 2, right? You remember what happened when the Germans decided they could fight on two fronts?"

Rebekah narrows her eyes and purses her lips. The whole table rattles with the kick she delivers to Matt's ankle.

Matt suppresses a grunt of pain but holds his ground as he turns his head to glare at her. "You know it's insane."

Rebekah's face is still pinched as she leans forward. "Not if we go with the plan," she says as she raises her brows in emphasis.

Matt shakes his head fiercely. "They'll never agree." His gaze flits over Elijah and Caroline.

"We've gone over this, Matt," Rebekah says insistently. "It's the only way."

Matt's frown deepens. "Rebekah, don't."

Klaus rolls his eyes. "This is why I hate pillow talk." His fingers drum impatiently on the table as he cocks his head in Rebekah's direction. "What are you two on about?"

"Hybrids!" she says triumphantly. "We'll fight fire with fire."

Klaus falls back in his chair and wipes a hand over his face in exasperation. "Brilliant," he says sarcastically. "And where exactly do you propose we get the werewolves necessary to create those hybrids?"

Caroline goes pale as she shifts her stare from Klaus to Matt, her lips pressing together in a hard line.

Elijah places his glass on the table and leans forward with a frown. "There is also the not insubstantial problem that we lack a doppleganger, seeing as both of them are vampires now."

"Actually," Rebekah says with a facetious smile. "Your information is a bit outdated on that."

"I beg your pardon?" Elijah's eyes are fixed on Rebekah as his face goes perfectly blank.

"One of them is human. It's just not the one you'd expect."

Elijah closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before he opens them again. "Katherine took the cure?"

Rebekah shrugs dismissively. "More like Elena shoved it down her throat, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that she's alive." Rebekah's expression sobers up as she turns to look at Caroline. "And that someone here can get a hold of a whole pack with just a phone call."

Matt's eyes are glued to his plate as he mutters an apology under his breath, shoulders hunched over under Caroline's razor-sharp glare.

Klaus is still not looking at her, but his eyebrows rise in curiosity as his fingers cease drumming on the table. "Tyler's found another pack?"

Caroline's eyes flick to Klaus. "Yeah."

Elijah shifts in his seat to look at Caroline. "And he would just hand them over if you ask?"

Caroline turns her glare back on Matt in the chair next to her. "I don't think so."

Rebekah rolls her eyes. "Come on, I'm sure there's nothing he wouldn't do for you. You're each other's one true love, after all. "

Caroline's lips thin out as she avoids looking at anyone. "It's complicated."

Klaus's head snaps around to stare at her, brows raised almost to his hairline.

At the same time Matt slowly raises his head with a confused frown on his face.

Rebekah raises a single brow as she purses her lips. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"


	27. Chapter 27

"**All hands on deck. That's the motto around here, right?"**

The late afternoon sun floods the salon as Elijah paces back and forth across the hardwood floors with a a conflicted look on his face. He avoids Rebekah's challenging stare from the settee and Klaus's feigned disinterest from the baby-grand piano.

Caroline is sitting on the low cushioned ledge in front of the bay window, staring out onto the lavish grounds as she twists her daylight ring around her finger.

Elijah pauses as he comes up next to her and pulls the phone out of his pocket. He quickly dials the number and brings the phone to his ear with a sigh, closing his eyes as he listens to it ring.

There is a click on the line followed by Katherine's voice. "Elijah? Is it really you?"

Elijah opens his eyes and his face goes completely blank as he stares out onto the grounds. "Yes, Katerina, it's me."

"Surprise, surprise." Katherine's tone is bitter. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call? You made it pretty clear that you had enough of me the last time we spoke."

"That wasn't my intention," he says firmly. He takes another breath and continues in a milder tone. "I called because I heard what happened in Mystic Falls." He switches the phone to his other ear. "Are you alright?"

**A few cars zoom down the road beyond the grimy windows of the truck-stop** along the highway. Katherine sits at the bar, grimacing at the greasy burger in front of her as she presses the cell phone tightly to her ear.

"No, Elijah, I'm not alright!" She lowers her voice and looks around skittishly. "I haven't been anywhere near alright in months," she whispers harshly.

A large, hairy truck driver passes behind Katherine's bar stool, a little too close for comfort, and whistles appreciatively.

Katherine closes her eyes and shudders in disgust. Her free hand clenches into a fist around the knife by her plate, even as she cowers further into herself. "I can't live like this," she says in a shaky voice. "Elijah, please?"

"Where are you?" Elijah's voice is determined.

Katherine breathes a sigh of relief as she closes her eyes and her clenched fingers loosen, dropping the knife back on the counter. "Truck-stop off of I-10 outside Mobile."

"Text me the address. I will arrange for a car to pick you up within ten minutes," he says confidently.

"I don't doubt it." Katherine smiles, even as she wipes a tear from the corner of her eye. "Thank you, Elijah."

**Back at the plantation **Elijah disconnects the call with a stony expression on his face. He turns around to face his siblings. "She'll be here in a few hours."

He lowers his head when his phone beeps with the receipt of a text message. "Your turn," he says quietly to Caroline without looking at her before he walks away.

Caroline looks after Elijah for a moment before her gaze moves over to Matt on the settee next to Rebekah. She shoots him a mutinous glare as she pulls out her cell phone and scrolls through the address book to select Tyler's number.

The soft dial tone sounds once, twice, three times and a fourth.

Caroline's finger is already on the disconnect button when the line clicks.

"Caroline? Hello? Are you still there?" Tyler sounds hurried and he is breathing heavily.

"Yeah, I'm here," Caroline says as her gaze shifts back out the window. "Hey, Tyler," she says awkwardly. "How've you been?"

"How have I been?" Tyler's tone is incredulous and the panting breaths stop completely. "Are you serious?"

Caroline cringes and pulls her knees closer to her chest. "I know, we haven't talked in a while."

"A while? Caroline, I haven't heard a single word from you in months."

The two other vampires who are still in the room raise their heads in interest.

Caroline starts to turn in the direction of the baby-grand piano, but stops herself short and deliberately places her forehead against the window, banging it softly a couple times. "I know," she says barely above a whisper. "It's complicated."

"Compli-...I feel like a damn parrot." Tyler huffs out an exasperated breath, then sucks in another. "What the hell happened, Caroline?"

"I..." Caroline's forehead is still pressed against the cold glass and she looks out at the grounds searchingly. "I don't know. Things just...happened." She takes a shaky breath and licks her lips. "I need your help."

"What's wrong?" Tyler asks, all traces of anger in his tone replaced with immediate concern. "Are you okay? Where are you?"

She starts drumming her fingers on her knee. "New Orleans." Her eyes flit over the immaculate gardens and she suddenly jumps up and starts to pace. "With Matt." She throws a passing glance in the direction of the settee. "And Rebekah."

"Rebekah Mikaelson?" Tyler spits out the name like something foul.

"Yeah." Caroline cringes again. "Listen, can you come here? There's some stuff going on that I have to tell you, but I can't really do it over the phone." Her eyes flick to Klaus but shy away just as fast.

"Caroline, you know I can't come near you. Klaus probably still has spies on you and if he so much as hears a rumor that I'm around-"

"Yeah, about that." Caroline looks down and scuffs the toe of her shoe against the hardwood. "It's not really a problem anymore."

"What?"

Caroline swallows heavily. "He...um...he let you go," she says in a quick mumble.

"What?!"

She finds a knot in one of the polished hardwood slats to stare at. "I'll explain when you get here?"

**Somewhere in West Virginia, Tyler is sitting at the edge of a cliff **staring across the ravine at the only cell phone tower for miles stuck between the densely growing spruce trees.

"Look." Tyler frowns pensively. "Even if that's true. I can't just pack up and leave. I-" He turns to look back over his shoulder at a large log cabin a few hundred feet away. "If you read any of my e-mails, you know I have responsibilities now."

Caroline's voice wavers. "I know." She takes a deep breath. "And I kind of need you to bring them with."

His brows draw together in a frown. "You're not making any sense." He presses his lips together and shakes his head as his eyes narrow in suspicion. "Why won't you just tell me what this is about?"

"It's..it's about Hayley, okay?" Caroline says hesitantly, in a low voice. "She's dead."

Tyler flinches but then his face grows cold and he clenches his free hand into a fist at his side. "And why should I care about that? After what she did to me-"

"She just had a baby you stupid jerk!" Caroline screams shrilly. "She was pregnant and she gave birth all alone in some alligator infested bayou and now she's dead! That's why you should care!"

The color drains from Tyler's face as he stops breathing and his eyes go wide. He stares blindly across the ravine, sitting ramrod straight. "Pregnant." The word falls like a brick.

Caroline sucks in an audible breath and sniffs. "Yes, pregnant."

Tyler blinks slowly, once and then again. "I'll..." He trails off as his eyes go back to the cabin.

A tall brunet man is standing in the doorway, giving him a questioning look.

Tyler raises his hand to signal him before he finishes his sentence. "I'll see what I can do." He chews on his bottom lip, his shoulders hunched over and eyes flicking back and forth underneath furrowed brows. "Text me your address there."

**In the salon at the plantation, Caroline resumes her pacing.** "Okay." She chews on her bottom lip and tries not to look at Matt or her own reflection in the glass when she approaches the window. "Thanks. Bye." She hangs up quickly.

Caroline spins around on her heel and tosses her phone at Rebekah. "You text him the address. I need some fresh air." She storms out of the salon without looking at anyone.

Matt starts to get up to follow her, but a well manicured hand on his arm stops him.

Rebekah shakes her head without looking up from Caroline's phone as she uses her other hand to text Tyler the address of the plantation.

Klaus is unimpeded as he jumps out of his seat at the piano a few seconds later and follows after Caroline with a determined expression on his face.


	28. Chapter 28

Please don't hate me. No fowl, no harm, right?

~!~

**"What are you afraid of?" "You. I'm afraid of you."**

When Klaus finds her, it is in the middle of an intricately shaped labyrinth of well maintained tall hedges, sitting on a white wrought-iron bench.

He steps into the small area but doesn't close the distance between them. "Hiding inside a garden maze is useless when the person you're trying to avoid is a hybrid."

Caroline looks up with a hard stare. "Funny, here I thought you were the one trying to avoid me."

Klaus shrugs noncommittally. He looks at her quietly for a moment, letting his gaze wander over her face. "Why didn't you come in?"

Caroline's brows draw together in confusion for a moment before her face clears up with realization. She shrugs and draws her knees up to her chest. She looks up at him between her long bangs. "I told you I was too smart to be seduced by you."

Klaus takes an exasperated breath and shakes his head, but his eyes don't leave her for a second. "Then why didn't you tell Tyler that he was free?"

She rolls her eyes and scoffs, dropping her legs to the floor. "That's none of your business." She jumps up from her seat and starts to walk away.

"Why, Caroline?" he calls after her, turning to watch her walk away from him.

She whirls around and glares at him, arms flailing as she raises her voice. "I just didn't get around to it, okay?"

"Not good enough," he says insistently, stepping forward to close the distance between them. "Tell me, Caroline. Why?" He narrows his eyes, looking at her searchingly. "After begging me for mercy, after threatening to let me die, after moving heaven and earth to make me free him - why didn't you tell him when he could finally come home? That he could come back to you."

"I don't know!" She runs her hands through her hair and holds it back at the back of her neck. "I was confused, okay? I wasn't sure if I could believe you and then we had that moment and things got complicated. And I didn't want complicated, I wanted simple. I wanted normal. So I didn't want to make it worse by bringing back Tyler when I wasn't even sure I-" She snaps her mouth shut and shakes her head. "It doesn't matter." She brings her hands up to ward off any questions.

"It bloody well matters!" Klaus roars in frustration, hands reaching out and stopping just short of grabbing a hold of her. He clenches them into shaking fists before he forces them open and drops them at his sides. "God, you are the queen of mixed signals!"

Caroline jerks her head back wide-eyed as she blinks rapidly. She smiles shakily. "I'm not sending any signals."

"Yes, you are." Klaus gets right in her face, nostrils flaring as his lips curl with a snarl. "Constantly. But it's like you can't decide whether it's push or pull, stop or go, come here or go away."

Caroline shakes her head. "You're delusional." She walks past him again, in the opposite direction from before, even though there's no exit in that direction.

"Really? Am I?" Klaus turns around again to watch her go nowhere. "You tell me that you want nothing to do with me, but then you let me take you out not once, but twice." He holds up two fingers for emphasis. "You tell me that I'm perfect and let me make you laugh. But then you turn around and help Tyler destroy everything I built in Mystic Falls."

Caroline whirls around open mouthed. The only thing that comes out of her mouth is a small incredulous noise.

He goes after her, thrusting one hand in the air for emphasis. "You drive me to the brink of my sanity and push me over, only to turn around and make me believe that you still have faith in my humanity."

Her gaze flicks away from him to the ground and she shakes her head slowly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"You tell me I'm a terrible person, but when I offer you comfort, you're more than willing to take it." He closes the last few steps between them and lowers his voice as he stops in front of her. He tilts his head and even bends his knees, trying to make her look him in the eyes. "You scream you'll never have me, but then you kiss me like you own me."

"That was when I thought you were Tyler!" she shouts defensively, taking a step back to point a finger accusingly.

"Not the time I was talking about," Klaus says quietly, stepping right into the pointed finger as he stares into her eyes.

Caroline's bravado falters as she stares at her trembling hand with bated breath. She's about to pull it away when it gets trapped against his chest.

He holds it there and slowly strokes his finger over the soft skin at the side of her thumb. "What are you so afraid of?"

Nervous laughter bubbles out of her mouth as she shakes her head and finally looks up at his face. "You." She still chuckles a little bit. "I'm afraid of you." She bangs the fist that is still caught in his hand against his chest. "And the things I want because of you."

"And what is it that you want?" His voice is barely above a whisper as he leans even closer.

Caroline takes a deep, shaking breath and closes her eyes as she sways forward on her feet.

Klaus holds himself perfectly still as his gaze slides to her slightly parted lips.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, brother.."

"Bloody hell!" Klaus whirls around to glare daggers in the direction of the intruder.

"Oh my god." Caroline jumps about a foot in the air at the same time, eyes going wide. A second later, she quickly tucks her head down and scurries away as fast as dignity allows.

Elijah watches her departure nonplussed before he turns back to his brother. "Bad timing, I take it."

Klaus's expression is murderous. "The worst."

Elijah's face doesn't betray any concern at the threatening tone in his brother's voice. "I still thought you would prefer to be informed immediately that there is a quite peculiar development underway in the French Quarter."

Klaus grits his teeth and juts his chin out, sucking in a deep breath through his nose before he releases it slowly. "And what would that be?"

Elijah smirks slightly as he brings one hand up to smooth over a perfectly smooth eyebrow. "It appears that Marcel and his inner circle have already started to...recruit if you pardon the term."


	29. Chapter 29

**"****You and Katherine? And I thought you were the smart brother." - "You don't have a smart brother. It turns out I'm just as stupid as the rest of you."**

The sun shines brightly onto the plantation grounds. The heat and humidity are nearly unbearable. Despite the conditions, Elijah looks completely comfortable, wearing a three piece suit with the jacket buttoned up. Next to him, Katherine is dressed in a spaghetti strap shirt and a short, light summer skirt. Her skin is glistening with sweat and her hair sticks to her forehead and the back of her neck where it is gathered in a tight bun.

Rebekah and Caroline are watching them from a distance, lounging in the wide chairs on the back porch.

Rebekah wrinkles her nose. "It's disgusting, isn't it?" She doesn't take her eyes off the couple.

Caroline drops the book she had been holding on the drink table between them. "What? The excessive sweating? Or the desperate, clingy attempts at a mating-dance by the person doing the excessive sweating?"

Rebekah rolls her head to the side to look at Caroline, one finely shaped brow raised patronizingly.

Caroline chuckles. "Yeah, I know." She shakes her head. "I just don't get what he sees in her. She's such a manipulative, evil, selfish, heartless bitch."

Rebekah nods along with each adjective. "She's got the worst taste in shoes, too."

"I know!" Caroline sits up straighter in her chair. "That terrible pair of fake Jimmy Choo's?"

"Please." Rebekah rolls her eyes. "They're nothing compared to those Prada knock-offs she was sporting when Elena and I found her in PA. I think she's insecure about her height."

Matt steps outside just in time to hear Rebekah's last comment. He stops, turns on his heel and goes back inside, shaking his head.

Caroline frowns as she turns her gaze back to the couple out in the gardens. "Do you think he's actually going to tell her?"

Rebekah shrugs and braces her chin on one hand, keeping her eyes on Caroline. "Probably not 'til your mutt agrees to it. No use burning bridges 'til you've crossed them and all that."

Caroline's head snaps back to Rebekah. "He's not my mutt."

Rebekah raises her brow again. "What is he then?"

Caroline crosses her arms and turns to stare mulishly out into the gardens. "I said, it's complicated."

Rebekah purses her lips, her brows drawing together over her nose. "You know there's an easier term for that."

Caroline looks back at her with narrowed eyes. "Oh yea, and what term is that?"

"Ex-boyfriend." Rebekah says dead-pan.

"Not funny." Caroline stares at her.

"It wasn't meant to be." Rebekah raises both brows, staring back.

Caroline presses her lips together and sucks in a deep breath through her nose. She snarls in annoyance, but quickly shakes it off. "Can we just go back to talking about shoes?"

Rebekah shrugs nonchalantly. "You started it."

"Well, now I'm finishing it."

**As they slowly wander along the path through the gardens, **Elijah keeps turning towards Katherine every few steps.

She pretends not to notice, but a small smile tugs at the corner of her mouth. "You know, Klaus has been suspiciously accepting of me being here." She crosses her arms under her chest, emphasizing the ample cleavage offered by her shirt.

Elijah clears his throat, but otherwise doesn't show any sign that he is affected by the display. "He's fairly preoccupied thanks to the witches' little conspiracy that you were kind enough to point out to him."

Katherine flinches and lowers her gaze, glancing cautiously at Elijah out of the corner of her eye.

Elijah continues as if he is oblivious to the reaction. "That, and I'm afraid I interrupted what one might call a 'tender moment' between him and Caroline Forbes, which is why he has been cloistered away in his rooms all week, undoubtedly creating an entire exhibition worth of grim, darkly-colored and appropriately vague, self-flagellating paintings meant to express the feelings he dare not speak aloud."

Katherine giggles, her face showing genuine amusement for a fleeting moment before her expression becomes guarded once more. "Does he know what you think about his art?"

Elijah shrugs dismissively. "He knows I prefer the written word over abstract imagery."

Katherine hums in agreement. "You were always gifted with words. I remember a sonnet or two..." She trails off as her eyes glaze over with a memory that makes her mouth twitch with a wicked smile.

Elijah drops his gaze to the ground at his feet and clears his throat again.

After a few steps in absolute silence, Katherine sighs and stops mid-step to grab him by the elbow. "Are we ever going to talk about it?"

Elijah stops in his strides and turns around stiffly. The placating smile on his lips twitches with uncertainty. "What is there to talk about?"

Katherine huffs and throws her hands up. "Us?" She motions between them. "Me. This." Her hands make a sweeping motion down her body. "This disgusting mess that I've become!" She wipes one hand down her sweat-soaked arm and holds it out for Elijah before she wipes it on her skirt with a sneer on her mouth.

Elijah's brows knit together in sympathy as his mouth opens slightly to form a response.

Katherine cuts him off before he can say anything. "How about the fact that I'm getting older, losing time, every minute of every day. That I will die if I can't find a way to turn me back?"

He sighs and reaches out to gently place a hand on her cheek, lowering his head to meet her gaze directly. "We will find a way." He rubs his thumb back and forth over her cheekbone. "But until then, can't you try to enjoy the fact that you are safe, here, with me?"

"Enjoy?" Katherine leans into his hand even as she shakes her head. "Elijah, what in the world is there to enjoy about-"

He cuts her off with a passionate kiss, his brows furrowing over his closed eyes with a pained expression as he slowly explores her mouth.

Katherine sinks into the kiss, squeezing her eyes shut as she returns the unexpected kiss with equal fervor.

Elijah is still trailing his thumb back and forth over her cheekbone as he places the last few gentle nips to her bottom lip. When he pulls away at last, the quick drum of her heartbeat echoes loudly in his head. "Does that answer your question?"

Katherine's expression is dazed and awestruck as she brings one hand up to her chest. "Wow, I forgot," she says breathlessly.

"We all do, eventually." Elijah's smile is wistful. "It's one of the many small sacrifices postulated by the very nature of our prolonged existence."

"So very gifted with words." Katherine's voice is still breathless. She closes her eyes and takes a shuddering breath as she deliberately steps into his arms and places a hand on his chest. "Show me what else I forgot?"

Elijah smiles and folds his arms around her, making them disappear from the gardens with a burst of vampiric speed.

**The light falling in through the balcony doors is less than ideal,** so it has been supplemented with several filtered spotlights. The entire room is taken up by art supplies; from easels to canvases, paint brushes, cans and tubes and bottles of all manner of paint. Two large tables are barely visible under stacks of paper, charcoal and pencils, brushes and tools.

Klaus is shirtless, manic and determined to finish the image on the large canvas in front of him. His brush dips into the pallet and moves to draw a sweeping line. He purses his lips in disgust and quickly brings up his thumb to swipe away at it, smudge and shape it, to correct the curve. He is completely focused on his work, absorbed in the moment.

His brows furrow as he pauses in deep thought. Then he bursts into vampire speed, bodily grabs the intruder behind the door and slams him against the wall, holding him there."Did you honestly think I wouldn't notice you standing there, mouth-breathing outside my door?"

Tyler chokes on the forearm pressed against his throat, eyes wide in surprise and fear as he tries to gasp in a breath. His eyes roll past Klaus to the canvas behind him. What he sees makes them twitch at the corners and his fear is quickly drowned out by rage. "Fuck you," he wheezes as he grabs hold of the arm against his throat and starts to pull.

"What was that?" Klaus's grip doesn't even falter. He leans a little harder on Tyler's throat and grins mockingly. "I didn't quite catch that. Did you say something?"

"Let him go." Caroline's voice is hard as steel as she places one hand on Klaus's bicep.

Klaus sucks in a deep breath through his nose and rolls his head back into his neck. His eyes shift over to Caroline with an annoyed glare as his brows furrow and his mouth curls down in frustration.

Tyler's eyes snap to Caroline, then back to Klaus and back to Caroline again, before they stay on Klaus.


End file.
